


The Temptation of Teddy Lupin

by RuArcher (Coriesocks)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Anal Sex, Awkward Conversations, Drinking, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Pining, Self-Doubt, Someone get James a shirt, Swearing, thirsty teddy lupin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 17:56:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14242701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coriesocks/pseuds/RuArcher
Summary: At 24, Teddy is preparing to start his first 'proper' job since leaving school. Thankfully, his God-father Harry is there to help him over the summer...which would have been perfect except for one small problem: James got hot.Teddy is now faced with a dilemma; suppress his feelings and hope they go away, or give in to them and risk ruining his relationships with everyone he holds dear.





	The Temptation of Teddy Lupin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JLPierre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JLPierre/gifts).



> Based on this prompt from Goldentruth813: Teddy absolutely refuses to admit he's got feelings for James. Except James is 18, freshly out of Hogwarts and home for the summer until the Quidditch season starts and has taken to lounging around the house in nothing but his joggers. All day. Displaying all his tan skin and the lovely trail of freckles across his muscled shoulders. Teddy keeps finding excuses to visit the Potters, but how long will he last until he snaps.
> 
> I instantly fell in love with this prompt and was going to bash out a few thousand words of angsty, pining Teddy, but then I got a bit carried away and it kind of spiralled. I hope you like what I’ve done with it, goldentruth813!
> 
> Thanks to the wonderful JLPierre, whose enthusiasm kept me going and who found time to sanity-check this even though she was busy with her own writing!

Teddy absently picked at the corner of his notebook, curling the pages up then flattening them down again. He was so focused on the pointless activity that he didn’t notice Harry’s approach and was startled as the chair beside him scraped back on the flagstones.

“So,” Harry began, plonking down a plate of biscuits between them on the table and flopping heavily into the chair with a weary sigh. “Are you still looking forward to it, or are the nerves starting to take over?”

Teddy sighed, considering his answer carefully, but in the end deciding that he couldn’t go wrong with the truth. “I’m shitting it, to be perfectly honest with you. Why did I ever think I could be a teacher? They’re going to hate me! Merlin. What on earth possessed me to do this?”

“You saw how dapper I look in my professors robes and wanted to emulate that, clearly!” Teddy laughed weakly at Harry’s joke, but his heart wasn’t in it because ‘ _shitting it_ ’ had been an understatement. “Seriously though, Teddy, you’ll be fine. You’re incredibly bright, and I’ve long been amazed at how patient you are with my lot whenever they demand your help with something. Besides, if anyone plays up, you can just send them along to me. No one messes with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.” He said with a fiendish grin, cracking his knuckles to demonstrate the point.

“Thanks,” Teddy replied quietly. He stared at the half-drunk mug of tea that was sat in front of him on the table. He still couldn’t quite believe that in less than three months, he would be starting work as an assistant Charms professor under Professor Flitwick. It was simultaneously the most terrified and excited he’d ever been.

“Your Dad would have been so proud to see you following in his footsteps,” Harry said after a few minutes, reaching for a biscuit.

“That’s not why I’m doing it,” Teddy replied shortly. He knew Harry meant well, but this whole teacher thing was daunting enough without being reminded that he had to live up to his father’s reputation. 

Harry gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know, and I know you don’t like hearing it, but it’s true. He’s the reason I decided to go into teaching, you know.”

“Yes, Harry, you’ve said. On multiple occasions.” Teddy said flatly, but the corners of his mouth twitched up in a faint smile to show there was no real heat behind his words.

“Okay, fine. I’m old. You’re supposed to humour me when I start repeating myself.”

“Or stick you in an old people’s home,” Teddy grinned.

“Cheeky git. Just for that, I’m not going to tell you where Minerva hides the good biscuits.”

Teddy laughed. He was glad that McGonagall had suggested Harry take the lead on his pre-Hogwarts training. He couldn’t imagine things going so well with Flitwick or any of the other staff members, or even McGonagall herself. 

“Professor Flitwick said he—”

“Filius,” Harry interjected.

“What?”

“Filius. He’s going to be your colleague; your mentor, even. You’re going to have to get used to calling him by his first name. The same goes for all your other colleagues. Including Minerva.”

Teddy paled and Harry’s boisterous laughter faded into the background as fresh implications of actually working at Hogwarts started to sink in. How was he supposed to call these people by their first names? They terrified him! He’d only barely kept it together for the interview, and that may or may not have been because of the few drops of calming draught Harry had kindly slipped into his tea beforehand. Merlin, what was he going to do? 

“Merlin’s tits, James, put a bloody shirt on! This isn’t a locker room!” Harry exclaimed, snapping Teddy’s attention back into the room. He looked up and immediately spotted James standing in front of the fridge, hanging off the door with one arm while he peered inside, his body largely obscured by the door. Teddy could clearly tell he wasn’t wearing a shirt though, and hastily looked down at the messy spread of papers on the table to hide his grin. It never failed to amuse him to hear James and Harry bicker—sometimes they acted more like brothers than father and son—and James had never been shy about his body, so it wasn’t unusual to hear Harry yelling at him to put more clothes on. “You wouldn’t do this at your Mother’s house,” Harry grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Dad. Did you buy any orange juice? Or bacon? Or anything even vaguely edible? It’s all Draco’s weird healthy crap.” James said, still prodding at the shelves and no doubt willing food to appear.

“I did, but we ate it. For breakfast. Which was, oh, about five hours ago,” Harry replied pointedly.

Teddy could practically hear James’ eyes rolling and he stifled a snort at the image. He liked to think James’ relationship with Harry was similar to what he would have had with his own father; open, honest, and loving. They might argue constantly, but there was rarely any real depth to the conflict. They were both just ridiculously stubborn and unafraid of their emotions. 

Despite the interruption to his and Harry’s work, Teddy was pleased to see James. He hadn’t seen him since Christmas, and even then it had been only briefly since James had opted to split most of the holidays between his girlfriend’s family and the Weasley’s, rather than with Harry and Draco. He’d finished school now though, and was back for the summer before the Quidditch season started, staying with Harry along with his brother, sister, and Scorpius while Ginny was off on an extended second or third honeymoon with Blaise.

“You could always try doing the shopping yourself if you aren’t happy with our selection,” Harry sniped, while James continued to rummage in the fridge.

“Yeah, no. I’ll starve instead, thanks.” James stepped back and swung the fridge door closed, a bottle of milk held up to his lips. “Hey, Teddy,” he said, ignoring Harry’s pained groan and grinning broadly at Teddy before taking a long swig of milk.

“Not straight from the bottle, you animal,” Harry whimpered.

Teddy barely heard him though. He was frozen in place, jaw hanging slack. His brain had short-circuited and all he could do was stare. He was vaguely aware of Harry and James continuing to bicker in the background, but he couldn’t focus on what they were saying. How could he when James was standing there with nothing on but a pair of loose jogging bottoms that hung so low on his hips, you could almost see where the thin trail of dark hair below his navel thickened towards his groin. He slowly dragged his eyes up, taking in James’ toned, Quidditch player’s chest. He’d always known James was attractive, you’d have to have been blind not to notice that, but since when had he developed all those muscles? There was not a trace of the slightly scrawny boy who liked to climb trees, play video games, and tease his siblings; at some point in the past six months, James had become a man and Teddy could not. Stop. Staring.

“Teddy?”

“Hngh?” He quickly reached for his now cold tea with trembling hands and took a gulp to mask the fact that he no longer remembered how to talk.

“I asked if you fancied playing some one-on-one later? Or are you too busy being a nerd with my Dad?” 

“Hey!” Harry complained in the background.

Teddy looked over at Harry, hoping for an answer, but he was too busy grumbling to himself to be of any help. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe?” Teddy replied, uncertain.

James chuckled. “Okay, well, find me later if you can make your mind up.” He flashed Teddy a crooked smile and if Teddy hadn’t been sitting down, his legs would have given way and sent him sprawling to the floor. What was up with that? 

“Uh, sure. Okay.”

He sauntered out of the room, waving lazily over his shoulder, and Teddy finally felt able to take a breath. 

“Sorry about that. Where were we? Oh, right. It’s probably a good idea to run through the staff handbook then if you have questions…”

Teddy did his best to look attentive, smiling and nodding in all the right places, but he didn’t really hear a word of what Harry said. His mind kept replaying the way James’ hips had swayed as he left, taunting him with a crystal clear recollection of the dips in his lower back, the light, almost invisible dusting of freckles across the top of his tanned shoulders, the curve of his arse beneath those obscenely low joggers...

Shit. What was he thinking? This was James— they were practically brothers! He shouldn’t be thinking things like that about him. He needed to focus on the teacher training materials he’d been given rather than perverted fantasies about his god-brother. His _eighteen year old god-brother_ , for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t like he would ever actually _do_ anything with James, but, Merlin...he needed to get laid, and soon, if he was getting this flustered by his objectively attractive, jogging bottom-wearing, young god-brother. With any luck, James would be wearing a few more clothes next time…

 

+++

 

The next time Teddy found a reason to come round, James wasn’t wearing more clothes. In fact, if anything, he was actually wearing fewer, and Teddy almost died.

Harry had offered to go over some of the procedural documents with him whenever he was ready. ‘ _Just pop round whenever you like, there’s always someone about_ ’ he’d said, and Teddy had resisted temptation for two entire days. He told himself he didn’t want to see James, and it wasn’t like he really expected him to be there anyway; he was a popular, attractive, supremely confident, young man, who probably had any number of friends to hang out with this summer, he was hardly going to spend his free time lounging around his Dad's house in various states of undress waiting for his slightly dorky, awkward, god-brother to turn up and ogle him…Not that Teddy was going to do that. Most certainly not. 

The sitting room was deserted when he floo’d in so he called out a tentative ‘ _Hello?_ ’, announcing his arrival to anyone who might be around. He wasn't really worried about intruding; Harry had long maintained that his house was as much Teddy’s as any of his other kids’, and told him he could floo round whenever he wanted, but after an unfortunate incident where he'd gotten an eyeful of a part of Draco that he could now never unsee, he tended to be a bit more cautious. With any luck, Harry had learned his lesson and would lock down the floo if anything undesirable was occurring; although it would technically be his own fault if Teddy caught him on his knees again. 

Shuddering at the memory, Teddy pushed on through the house, calling out another couple of times. Where was everyone? He felt a brief flash of disappointment, and he was fairly certain it wasn’t because Harry wasn’t there to answer his questions about the best way to discipline unruly students. It wasn’t like he actually wanted to see James, not really, but he had half-expected to find him slumped down on the sofa, watching TV, or raiding the kitchen for snacks. They didn’t really get a chance to catch up the other day, and he thought that maybe if he and James hung out for a bit, maybe his weird and inappropriate thoughts would vanish. 

Just as he was starting to worry that everyone was out, Draco’s voice floated down the stairs from where he must have been holed away in his office.

“Teddy? Is that you?”

Teddy moved to the bottom of the staircase and shouted back. “Yeah. Er, is Harry around, only he said to just come by whenever…”

“Of course, of course. You're always welcome.” Draco appeared at the top of the stairs, looking more relaxed than usual in a pair of loose jeans and a worn band t-shirt that must be one of Harry’s. “Harry just popped out with Scorpius and Al. Something about needing more parchment or art supplies or a book? I'm afraid I'm rather busy with work at the moment, but I think James and Lily are in the garden. So, ah, make yourself at home.” He disappeared again before Teddy could say anything further, so, shaking his head, Teddy headed off towards the garden. He briefly considered flooing home, but then dismissed that idea almost as soon as it had surfaced. It’d be good to see Lily; he hadn’t seen her yet this summer and she was always so impressed with his stories and anecdotes about his varied employment history. It felt good to be appreciated every now and then.

The sun was high in the sky and it was one of those rare British summer days with no cloud cover, so as Teddy approached the patio doors, he needed to use one hand to shield his eyes from the sun in order to see who was around. He immediately spotted Lily with four of her friends sat in the dappled shade of a large, leafy tree near the back of the house, but James was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey Lil,” he called brightly, strolling over to where the girls were gathered together.

“Teddy!” Lily leapt up from the ground and flung her arms around his neck. He was warmed by her enthusiasm and laughed along with her delighted giggles when he spun her around in a circle.

He said hello more sedately to her gathered friends, but they weren’t paying much attention to him anyway. Before he could give the lukewarm response much thought though, Lily flopped to the ground with a huff, tugging him down with her and chatting a mile a minute about someone called Sybil and her two boyfriends. Teddy cast a quick glance around the garden but wasn’t too surprised by the lack of James; Draco had said he only _thought_ James was in the garden after all, so it wasn’t too surprising that he wasn’t around. He was probably still in bed. And besides, he would much rather pass the time with Lily than wander around the house and garden like a forlorn teen hoping for a glimpse of his crush (not that he had a crush, he quickly corrected himself.)

The early afternoon sun was deliciously warm on Teddy’s shoulders and it wasn’t long before his eyes began to feel heavy, the chatter of the teenage girls blending with the birdsong to soothe him to the point of almost dozing. He leant back on his hands and tilted his face up to the sky, enjoying the feel of the sun’s rays on his skin, his hair slowly turning from its current boring-adult-with-a-sensible-job brown to a bright turquoise as he let himself relax.

“Ugh, he’s such a show-off.” Lily groaned.

Teddy whipped his head towards her so quickly, he almost overbalanced. Lily used to love it when he changed his hair colour, but now he was showing off? And it hadn’t even been intentional! Why was she being so—

“Oh my god, Lil, he’s _gorgeous_ ,” a girl to his left said.

“He’s coming over here!” another squealed. Teddy frowned, starting to suspect that perhaps they weren’t talking about him. Belatedly, he realised that Lily was scowling at something, or someone, over his shoulder so he turned around to see what all the fuss was about and…

...his heart nearly stopped.

James was strolling towards them wearing nothing but a pair of boardshorts— once again sat obscenely low on his hips —and a smirk. He had a broom slung over one shoulder, and his olive skin was flushed and moist with sweat. When he dragged a hand through his damp hair, pushing it off his forehead and causing it to stick out in all directions, Teddy had a sudden flash of James writhing beneath him, sweaty and flushed for a very different reason. Teddy choked as he tried to swallow and inhale at the same time in his rush to shake the images from his head before things got out of hand.

“Ted! Teddy-Teddy-Ted-Ted!” James cried, sinking down beside him and slinging a damp arm around his shoulders. He didn’t even seem to notice the four girls quietly vibrating with excitement at his proximity, their eyes raking over his body like his very existence gave them life. To be honest, Teddy didn’t blame them.

“Shove off, James. Dad said he wanted you to clean up the kitchen, not ponce about on your broom all day.”

“It’s not poncing about, Lil, it’s training. I’m a professional Quidditch player now, remember?”

“Like we could ever forget.” She rolled her eyes then poked her tongue out, before turning to address her friends. “Come on, we should go get ready now if we’re going to make that film. You want to come with, Teddy?”

“Um,” Teddy glanced between James and Lily. He didn’t want to upset Lily, but with the way James was pressed against him, he would sooner chew off his own foot than leave right now. “Actually, I...um, I really need to speak to your Dad so I should probably stay. Draco said he’d back soon.” 

“No worries, Teddybear,” Lily said affectionately, leaning forward to peck him on the head, then doing the same to James before herding her friends towards the house.

“Hey, Lil?” James shouted after her before she disappeared inside. “Grab me a bag of pick-n-mix while you’re there? Some of those little egg things and some shrimps. Oh, and those chocolate circle things with dots on. Pleeeease?”

“Not a chance, Jay,” she called back, blowing him a kiss before ducking into the house.

James laughed and flicked her a rude hand gesture. “That girl is going to do terrible things when she’s older. Great, but terrible things.” 

Teddy smiled weakly. His pulse had spiked at James’ sudden appearance, and things had only got worse since he’d sat beside him and wrapped a sweaty arm around his shoulders. He sat rigidly, hugging his knees to his chest and hoped desperately that James wouldn’t be able to feel how fast his heart was beating. 

“Unnnggghh,” James groaned, as he stretched and fell back onto the grass beside Teddy. “I’m fuckin’ knackered.”

Teddy sighed in relief, while simultaneously feeling a shiver of disappointment at the sudden lack of contact. He surreptitiously glanced down at James where he lay sprawled beside him; his eyes cataloguing every inch and locking it tightly away in his mind. Merlin, this boy—no, _man_ —was going to destroy him.

“Good to see your hair bright again,” James said eventually, cracking open one eye to look up at Teddy.

He reached up and patted at his hair as though he could somehow feel colour through his fingertips. He didn’t need a mirror to know his roots were a deep red though. His hair always turned that shade when he felt embarrassed or uneasy. He’d long ago worked out that his hair could be an emotionally-driven rainbow, not that he’d ever admitted this to anyone; he didn’t like the idea of being so easy to read. This was one of the main reasons why he usually tried so hard to keep his hair a sensible, boring, brown these days—that and the fact that people never seemed to take him seriously with hair that turned from blue to purple, to pink within the space of a single interaction. The brown wasn’t too hard to maintain, if he didn’t allow himself to get distracted…

“Oh, I... uh, it wasn’t intentional. It just does it by itself,” he replied pointlessly, knowing that the red would be slowly creeping to the ends of his hair as his cheeks flushed.

“I know that, you idiot,” James said fondly, poking Teddy in his side. “I was worried you were turning a bit boring, with the brown hair, corduroy trousers, sensible shoes, and all the hanging out with my Dad.”

“You think I’m boring?” 

“No, you pillock, but I think you’re trying very hard to make it look like you are. Remember when we used to hang out outside all day? When you used to lead us on ‘expeditions’ into the woods, and we’d hide from Al and Scorp then pelt them with acorns and pine cones? We should do that again— they’re looking far too comfortable around me these days.”

Teddy huffed out a light chuckle allowing the memories to flood back: summers spent racing around with James and pretending that he wasn’t yet an adult, avoiding conversations with Harry, Draco, Ginny, Blaise, Gran…literally every ‘proper’ adult he knew, because all they wanted to talk about was what he was doing with his life. It had been his directionless, unambitious, drifting between shitty job after shitty job that had been what pushed Vic away, not that he regretted that particular relationship ending, but he still felt bad about how frustrated and angry he’d made her by the end. She was studying law now, looking as if she would become a successful wizarding lawyer, and had the fancy high-powered boyfriend to match, while he was only now about to start his first proper job and was lusting after his eighteen-year-old god-brother.

“Sorry. I just really don’t want to fuck this up, you know? I think it’s what I’m meant to do, this teaching thing, so I want to do it properly. Channel my inner-professor, and all that crap.”

James barked out a laugh. “Are you not scared at all? I can’t imagine anything more terrifying than having to deal with all those kids. If even one of them is like I was... fuck Teddy, you’re insane.”

“Ha. I’m absolutely shitting it,” he replied, repeating what he’d said to Harry a couple of days ago. “But I’m also excited, so it kind of balances out.”

“I feel you. I’m bricking it about the start of the Quidditch season. What if I fall off my broom in front of everyone? ” 

“You? Terrified of something? Will wonders never cease?”

“Shut up, prick, it’s been known to happen,” he grinned. “Don’t you dare tell anyone though, or I’ll be forced to tell them about the time you pissed on one of Gran’s prized Flutterby bushes.”

“You wouldn’t!” 

“Are you so sure about that…?”

“In my defence, I was really desperate and I didn’t actually know what bush it was until it started vibrating at me.”

James curled over on himself, laughing so hard, tears started falling from his eyes, and Teddy soon succumbed too. Had it only been last summer? If felt like years ago. The laughter eventually trailed off and Teddy found himself lying alongside James, his head pillowed on his arms as he stared up at the sky. At least this way he could keep his eyes off James’ chest without too much effort, although he could still feel the heat of his body with how close they were.

“You’ll be great, you know that right?” James said as Teddy was starting to drift off.

“Hmm?” Teddy frowned, tilting his head so he could look at James’ face, but James wasn’t looking at him, he was staring up at the sky, much like Teddy had been before he’d started falling asleep.

“You’re amazing at teaching people; you’re so patient and you, you know, really care about stuff. And you’re the smartest guy I know. Hogwarts will be lucky to have you.”

Teddy stared in disbelief at James, his heart pounding. Why would he say something like that? He normally just joked around— when had he gotten so mature? As he watched, James stretched lazily and sat up, completely oblivious the internal turmoil he’d just caused. When he glanced back over his shoulder at Teddy, his face lit up.

“Hey, it’s fully red now! Suits you. Come on, let’s go inside, it’s almost chilly enough that I might actually need to put a shirt on.” He stood up and held a hand out to Teddy to help him up. “Ugh, I need a shower,” he said sniffing his armpit. “Here, what do you think?”

“Jamie! Fuck. I’m not putting my nose anywhere near your pits, you animal,” Teddy complained, pushing him away with a grimace. 

“Come on Ted-Ted! Smell me!” He yelled gleefully, tackling Teddy to the ground and attempting to rub his armpits over him. This was the James he was familiar with, Teddy thought as he half-heartedly tried to fight him off. On the one hand, gross. On the other hand, a semi-naked James squirming above him pretty much fulfilled at least _half_ of his current fantasies, so…

Apparently deciding he’d tortured Teddy enough, James leapt up and ran into the house, leaving a dazed and uncomfortably aroused Teddy lying prone on the grass where he’d fallen. What the fuck was he going to do? Why did James have to suddenly become so…so… fucking hot? No matter what he did, he could not stop thinking about thinking about him, and they were definitely not the sort of thoughts he should be having about his young friend. They were practically brothers! Fuck. For all he knew James wasn’t even into guys, and even if he was, he probably thought of Teddy as some kind of sexless older brother or uncle figure.

Life was cruel, he thought, suddenly feeling very sorry for himself. 

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there, but when he heard Harry return with Albus and Scorpius, he decided it was probably time he went home. James had looked slightly puzzled that Teddy was suddenly so eager to leave, and Harry had tried to convince him to stay for tea, but Teddy remained stubborn so they sent him on his way with cheerful goodbyes and the usual reminder to pop round anytime he wanted. He was determined that wasn’t going to happen though. He needed to put some distance between himself and James, just until his feelings or hormones, or whatever sorted themselves out and his libido settled down a bit. He could do this; he was a proper grown-up now, soon to have a proper grown-up job and everything, he could deal with this temporary crush. No problem.

 

+++

 

He couldn’t do this. 

Despite his resolve to stay away and his near-constant internal scolding, he managed no more than four days of going cold-turkey from James, so clearly maintaining distance wasn’t bloody working to fix this problem. James was a constant presence in his mind, memories of him hot and sweaty from Quidditch practice blending seamlessly with the fantasies his sexually-frustrated brain created. Even the memory of him trying to attack him with his sweaty armpits had been corrupted into some kind of weird foreplay.

He woke up on day five of his James-denial, achingly hard; which was increasingly becoming the norm these days. It was like being sixteen again. Or maybe eighteen; the same age as James. Merlin, he was young. He groaned and pulled the pillow over his face. He hadn’t dared touch himself yet, knowing that no matter whose face or body he pictured, they would surely morph into James, and it felt somehow wrong to pleasure himself whilst thinking of his god-brother. However, walking around all day half-hard was starting to become a problem, so he thought it might be time to take the matter in hand since the smallest things were setting him off, and it was only a matter of time before he took someone’s eye out with an inconveniently timed erection. He was seriously starting to fear for his sanity.

He rolled out of bed and stumbled into the shower, his erection throbbing and showing no signs of going away anytime soon. Closing his eyes, he turned his face into the hot stream of water, the water pounding against his eyelids. He reached blindly for his shampoo and quickly washed his hair, trying to think about anything other than what he was about to do. There was still time to back out; to ignore his erection and wait for it to fade on its own, or picture a random face or arse. He was still trying to talk himself out of it as he trailed a soap slicked hand down his chest. Not James, not James, not James, not… James...James, James, James... He moaned with relief as his hand closed around his prick and he gave up all pretence of thinking about anyone else. James’ toned chest, his broad, freckled shoulders, his cocky smirk and confident swagger, the way his presence lifted a room. Fuck. His orgasm hit him after an embarrassingly short time, and he grunted out his release, hips jerking erratically as he striped the tiles with come. 

As the bliss of his orgasm dulled, he rapidly started to feel...not dirty, exactly, but… like he’d done something morally wrong... 

Now that his head was clearer, there was more room for the guilt to seep in. Merlin, but how could he look James in the eye now, knowing what he’d done. He stepped out of the shower and roughly dried himself off. Maybe it was out of his system now. Everything would be fine as long as he didn’t give in to temptation again. He just needed another method of dealing with things. Avoidance clearly wasn’t working, and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t really want to avoid James. He was a good friend, despite the age gap, and when Teddy wasn’t being a creepy old pervert, they got on really well. Perhaps the key was total immersion. He could go round to Harry and Draco’s and spend time with them as a family, and reset his brain into thinking of James with familial affection rather than something more animalistic. And besides, it wasn’t like James would always be half naked. It was just a coincidence that the last two times he’d seen him, he’d been more bare flesh than clothes.

No sooner had the idea passed through his head, than he was dressed and standing in front of the fireplace with a handful of floo powder and a satchel full of his teacher training materials (he actually did need to ask Harry some work-related questions so he thought he may as well get some help whilst he was there).

“I’m just heading to Harry’s,” he yelled out to his Gran.

“Give my love to the boys and their kids, and don’t forget your manners,” she said, poking her head around the door frame. It didn’t matter how old he got, she still managed to make him feel like he was still eight years old.

“Yes, Gran. You know I will. See you later.” He smiled fondly and gave her a peck on the cheek before throwing the floo powder into the fire and stepping through to James’ house.

 

+++

 

James was still in bed when Teddy turned up— of course he was, it was barely nine in the morning —but Harry was around, and more than happy to spend time with his godson. They quickly settled down at the large kitchen table with mugs of tea and a generous slice of Molly Weasley’s fruitcake each, the seemingly endless mountain of paperwork from Hogwarts spread out before them. Aside from the guilt over his early morning shower wank, which was a constant niggle at the back of his mind, Teddy found he was actually enjoying himself. With Harry now away at Hogwarts during term times, Teddy hadn’t been able to spend as much time with him so it was good to have this time together without distractions, even if they happened to be going through rather dull material. If Harry noticed the way Teddy’s gaze kept drifting towards the door, he thankfully didn’t pass comment.

By the time James finally stumbled sleepily into the kitchen (shirtless because, of course), Harry and Teddy were well into their third mug of tea and both were on their second slice of cake.

“Afternoon,” Harry said pointedly as James shuffled over to the counter in slippered feet. His hair was still sticking up on one side, his eyes were puffy, and he was wearing bright green and yellow Harpies pyjama bottoms; he had clearly just rolled out of bed. Teddy wrenched his gaze away from James’ tanned torso and tried to focus his attention back on the list of ‘inappropriate behaviours for students’ he’d been browsing.

“It’s, like, half eleven, Dad, You’d think you’d be able to tell time by now,” James grumbled as he reached for a mug. Teddy bit his lip, his attention caught by the way James’ lats bunched and rippled as he stretched up to the cupboard.

“It’s five past twelve,” Harry stated.

“Ugh, whatever. I need coffee.” James turned his back on them and started clattering about with the coffee maker.

Teddy did his best to keep his focus on the papers in front of him, but it was hard when James was shuffling around the kitchen looking all soft and sleepy and warm. It was all Teddy could do to keep himself from gathering him up and pressing his face into the crook of his neck. He was so intent on not tracking James’ every movement around the kitchen that he almost leapt from his chair in fright when the pyjama-clad boy flopped down in the seat beside him.

“Hey Teddy,” James said, as he sat down. To Teddy’s immense horror, he shuffled his chair closer to Teddy’s and then leant his head on Teddy’s shoulder.

Teddy froze.

“Come on, Jamie, we’re trying to get some work done here,” Harry huffed.

James nuzzled further into Teddy, his hair tickling Teddy’s neck. “Teddy doesn’t mind, do you?” 

“Uh, no? I…I don’t know? ” He tried to still a shudder, but he could feel the blush creeping up his neck, and judging by the way Harry’s eyes flicked up to the top of his head, the blush had continued into his hair. Shit. 

Harry cast a curious glance over the pair of them and Teddy squashed down the desire to yell ‘ _It’s not what it looks like!_ ’ because no one truly innocent ever said that. He busied himself with tidying up a few stray cake crumbs that had fallen over the spread of parchment and tried not to nuzzle his face into James’ hair and breathe in his scent.

“See, Teddy doesn’t mind,” James said smugly, his bare shoulder burning a hole through Teddy’s as he leant closer.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Harry muttered under his breath. “Well, anyway, I think we’ve covered quite enough today, so why don’t you and James just hang out for a bit,” he said a little too loudly, pushing up from his chair with suspicious haste. “And you,” he said pointing to James, “try to behave yourself, and maybe get dressed at some point.” He leaned over and ruffled a hand through James’ sleep-mussed hair before retreating hurriedly from the room. 

James sat up a bit and turned to Teddy, grinning. “So, what do you want to do?” 

Teddy’s stomach chose that time to let out a massive growl, reminding him it was lunchtime. “Ahh, I wouldn’t mind getting some food…but I can just go home if you've got plans.”

“What? You can't leave yet, I've just got up! Dad was very specific about us hanging out, and you know how my much I hate disappointing him,” James said, grinning rakishly. “You just sit here and look pretty while I make us the best pasta and whatever’s-in-the-fridge you've ever eaten.”

“Okay,” Teddy replied weakly. He couldn't have left now even if he'd had a wand pointed at his head; his legs had turned to jelly. James called him pretty!? Him! Pretty?? He could barely string a sentence together, let alone get up from the table. 

James got up, and busied himself with rummaging through cupboards and grabbing jars and pans, seemingly at random. Teddy could do nothing but stare helplessly, trying to breathe normally while James bent over or reached up or stretched out his back. Merlin, this was torture. If he hadn't allowed himself that moment of self-indulgence in the shower that morning, he would probably have come in his pants just from the sight of James’ arse in those ridiculous pyjama bottoms. Pyjama bottoms which left absolutely nothing to the imagination every time the material pulled tightly across his arse cheeks. Seriously, how did he look so hot in those things? Teddy had the exact same pair at home and he looked about five years old whenever he wore them.

“Can I help at all?” Teddy asked, in an effort to distract himself.

“Nah, my treat,” James said, glancing over his shoulder. “Hey, you've gone red again! It really suits you. I mean, I love the turquoise ‘cause that's just so...you, so Teddy, y’know? But this—” he abandoned the pan on the stove and stepped up to Teddy’s chair, bringing his bare chest inches from Teddy’s face. To Teddy’s horror, James started raking the fingers of one hand through his hair, tugging at the strands “—this colour is so pretty. Like, dark purpley-red at the roots, but then more orangey at the ends? It's just...I don't know, I just really love it on you.”

Teddy gripped his mug so tightly he was surprised it didn’t shatter in his hands. He stared at a small mole on James' chest, putting all his effort and focus into breathing in, out. In, out. He knew if he looked up and met James’ eyes he would lose all self-control. Time seemed to stall. James’ fingers were still moving through his hair, but slower now, his nails grazing Teddy’s scalp every now and then. Had he moved closer? The mole looked bigger now. Fuck. 

A sudden hiss and sputter broke whatever spell had befallen them.

“Shit!” Cried James, darting over to the stove to remove the pan from the heat. 

Teddy blanched. How long had he been sitting there letting James fondle his head? He tried to compose himself but it was useless; he was painfully hard. He needed to escape, and take care of things, but he wasn’t sure he could even stand right now.

“I need a piss,” he yelled at James’ back, before dashing out of the room, not even giving James a chance to turn around.

Once in the safety of the bathroom, Teddy slammed the door shut and leaned back against it, breathing hard. He wasn’t going to wank with James practically on the other side of the door; he was an adult, for fuck’s sake, not some horny teenager. It must be because he hadn’t been with anyone since he and Brodie had split up almost eight months ago— his body was starved of attention and it had fixated itself on the nearest attractive person. It was just unfortunate that this person happened to be James. He needed to go out and find someone, literally anyone else, to release the pent-up frustration and then everything should go back to normal, right? 

He sighed, and looked down at the tent in his trousers. This was fucking ridiculous; why did this shit always happen to him? Everything was finally looking positive—new grown-up career, steady income, finally being able to move out of his Gran’s house—but now this juvenile crush, or misplaced sexual frustration or whatever, threatened to ruin everything. How would parents trust him with their children if they heard about him preying on his young god-brother who had literally just left Hogwarts?

Cold water. That’s what he needed. A shower was out of the question; no need to make his rapid escape to the bathroom seem any stranger by randomly showering. James would probably think he’d shat himself. As the next best alternative, he shuffled over to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. Looking up, he caught sight of his damp, flushed face in the mirror and realised with horror that not only had his hair turned into a weird purpley-red mix of arousal and embarrassment, his eyes had also turned hazel. The exact same hazel of James’ eyes. Because obviously, things weren’t awkward enough. Fuck. He had no idea when that had happened— had James noticed? Or Harry? 

He stepped over to the toilet, and sat down heavily on the lid. Merlin, what had come over him? He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and hid his face in his hands. James probably thought he had some sort of hair pulling kink. What the fuck was he thinking? Why had he just sat there dumbly and not said anything? James had clearly been messing around—he’d always been a very tactile person—and Teddy’d had to go and make it weird by getting so turned on he’d needed to run and hide in the bathroom. He groaned one final time into his hands, frustrated, aroused, and so, so, annoyed with himself, then stood up and tried to rearrange his trousers so his finally flagging erection wasn’t quite so obvious. James would doubtless think him odd enough without spending another ten minutes hiding away. 

When Teddy slunk back into the kitchen, expecting a barrage of questions and a fair bit of mocking, but fully prepared to suffer through it at least until the end of lunch, he was surprised to find James singing some generic pop song Teddy vaguely remembered off the radio, swaying his hips and bobbing his head in time to the beat. He watched in silence from the doorway for a few moments until James performed a particularly elaborate shuffle-spin and spotted him lurking. 

“Hey!” James said, grinning sheepishly. “I don’t actually like that song, you know? It’s just been stuck in my head for-fucking-ever. Lil won’t stop playing it, so yeah. It’s not what I normally listen to,” he rambled, a beautiful flush spreading up from his chest to colour his cheeks. 

Teddy couldn’t answer immediately, having been struck dumb by the sight of James dancing, and James’ embarrassment quickly morphed into concern. He drew closer to Teddy, eyebrows knotted.

“Teddy? You okay? You look like you’ve just seen a dementor, and your hair…” His eyes flicked up to Teddy’s hair and he reached out a hand, presumably to touch it, but quickly withdrew when Teddy flinched back.

“Um...Actually, I’m not feeling too good. I should go. Must have eaten something dodgy.” He mumbled, stumbling backwards out of the kitchen and putting some much-needed distance between himself and James. “Sorry...about lunch...and...and stuff.” 

“No problem,” James replied. “It’s not your fault. Owl me, yeah? I can come bring you soup or grapes or something.”

Teddy nodded and smiled weakly, not trusting voice. He hastily mumbled another apology and then apparated home before he had the opportunity to do anything else stupidly inappropriate. 

Distance. That’s what he needed. He really would be strong this time and maintain some distance from James, just until this ridiculous thing had run its course.

It wasn't until later that evening that he realised he had left all his teacher training materials spread all over the kitchen table at James’. With any luck, Harry would gather them up and owl them over.

 

+++

 

_Harry,_  
I don’t know if James said anything, but I fell ill and left in rather a hurry yesterday. Unfortunately, I left all of my files, and training manuals at yours. Would you be able to drop them round if you’re visiting Gran this weekend? Or send them by owl? I’ll cover the cost, of course.  
Thanks,  
Teddy 

———

_Hi Teddy,_  
Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well. I’ve not seen your files lying around anywhere, so maybe James already picked them up or Draco could have tidied them away somewhere. I’ll ask around, but Draco is at work and, since it’s before noon, James is still in bed.  
I hope you feel better soon! If not, I’ll send one of the kids round with some of Molly’s soup. Let me know if you need anything.  
Harry x 

———

_Hey Ted,_  
Dad said you were asking about your notes. I've got them. I put them in my room in case Al or Lil tried to do crafts with them or something. You can come get them tomorrow afternoon.  
J 

 

Teddy sighed and smacked his head on the table. Why was James holding his files hostage? And, why did this shit keep happening to him? It shouldn’t be so hard to avoid someone; it was like the universe was somehow forcing him to spend time with James. He supposed that he could reply and say he was busy...but he did really want his files back...and it wasn’t like he would have to spend anytime with James— just pop in, grab his stuff, and head home. It would be fine, surely? 

 

+++

 

Teddy barely slept that night as he went back and forth in his mind over whether or not to turn up, as James requested, but in the end realised there was no use in fighting it. He was always going to keep going back if James beckoned, but he was resolute that this would be the last time. Really, really the last time.

The house felt empty when he stepped out of the fireplace that afternoon. He gave the room a cursory glance as he vanished the soot from his clothes. The curtains were drawn, filling the room with darkness, there were none of the usual cooking smells wafting up from the kitchen, and the ever-present sound of a TV or wireless left on somewhere in the house was also missing. It was eerie. But James had definitely said to turn up in the afternoon, and it was just gone three, which Teddy had reckoned was slap bang in the middle of the afternoon, meaning James should be around somewhere. Surely he couldn’t still be asleep? When a voice sounded from his left, he nearly leapt out of his skin.

“Hey, Teddy.”

“Merlin, you absolute fucker,” Teddy gasped, holding his hand over his heart.

James snickered. “Bit jumpy, aren't we?”

“You'd be jumpy too if someone was lurking in the dark, watching you.”

“I'm not lurking! I'm just lying down.”

“...in the dark.”

“Fine, yeah, but in my defence, I'm quite hungover.” When James showed no further signs of moving, Teddy kicked him in the thigh. “Alright, alright. I’m getting up,” he muttered, groaning loudly as he rolled off the sofa.

“Where is everyone?” Teddy asked, reluctantly trailing behind James through the eerily quiet house.

“Oh, they, ah, they’re all at the Burrow. Didn’t fancy it myself, and you wanted your files back so...” he shrugged. 

Teddy tried not to let the words sting. Things like this reminded him that he wasn’t a real member of the family. James must have sensed the impact of his words though because he suddenly halted halfway up the staircase. “Don’t stress about it. It was a last minute thing— Dad was gonna ask you along, but we thought you might be too sick.”

“Oh.”

“You’re really not missing out on much. Grandad had some new muggle thing he wanted Dad to help him decipher. You know, usual stuff.”

“No, yeah, you’re right, I should probably be resting, so I’ll just grab my stuff and head home. You’ve probably got things to be getting on with.”

“You’d think so, but no. I mostly plan on playing video games, maybe with a bit of napping and general lazing about thrown in.”

Despite himself, Teddy found his interest piqued. “Oh, really? Did you get that new Elder Scrolls one? I heard it’s pretty good.”

James’ face lit up. “Yes! Mate! It’s so good! I’ve literally been playing it every night since I got it. Why do you think I get up so late? You wanna have a go?”

Teddy didn’t even think it through before readily agreeing. Video games were his weakness, and he had never been able to convince his Gran to get her house wired for muggle electricity so he could only ever indulge in his passion at friends’ houses.

“I can’t believe you never told me you had this,” he said disbelievingly as he turned the case over in his hands.

“Shut up. I can’t believe you never told me you were into this!”

“My ex was a muggle— I think you met him? Brodie? Well, he was obsessed with RPGs so pretty much all we did when we hung out at his was play them.”

He jumped slightly when James placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “You and Brodie broke up? I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, didn’t you know? It was ages ago. And he was a bit of a dick so, whatever.” Teddy shrugged, then picked up the controller, trying not to focus on how nice James’ the weight of James’ hand felt.

James watched on as Teddy started up a new game, and Teddy was grateful he hadn’t pressed for more details about his love life, or lack thereof. They played in silence, for the most part, just throwing out the occasional comment or warning about the on-screen action, but during one particularly long load screen, James said: “So, ah, I don’t know if you heard, but I broke up with Estelle.”

“Estelle?” Teddy frowned. He’d long stopped bothering to keep up with James’ romantic entanglements once he’d realised the names changed so frequently.

“The girl I was with for, like, six months!” James cried indignantly, swatting Teddy with the back of his hand.

“Oh! Yeah, I think I remember her. Sorry.” Teddy turned back to the game as an exceptionally large spider attacked his character. “So, ah, what happened? With Estelle?” He asked once the spider and several of his friends had been dispatched.

James was silent for long enough that Teddy thought he wasn't going to answer. “I don't know, I guess we were too different. She wanted to take things to the next step, like, move in, get married, have babies and whatnot, but it made me realise that I didn't really want that. Not with her anyway, and definitely not right after school.”

“Wow. So you just dumped her?” 

“Well…It was more of a mutual dumping actually,” he muttered at his lap, studiously avoiding Teddy’s curious gaze.

“Ah, I see. So what you’re saying is you acted like a dick and she dumped you.”

“Thanks, Teddy,” James said sarcastically. “You always know exactly what to say. But yeah…that bridge is well and truly burned. And all her friends hate me too. In hindsight though, maybe breaking up before our NEWTs was a dick move.”

“You're a cold-hearted bastard James Sirius Potter,” Teddy said, chuckling to himself. “The young ladies of Hogwarts must have breathed a sigh of relief on your last day.”

“Ha, that's me. James Potter; heartbreaker.” He laughed self-deprecatingly. “Come on, enough of this mopey shit. We've got dragons to obliterate!” 

Teddy completely lost track of time as they played quest after quest. He was so immersed in the game, he hadn't even noticed how dark it had got until James lit the desk lamp with a flick of his wand, flooding the room with light.

After a couple more hours, voices floated up the stairs and Teddy heard footsteps thundering up and down the stairs. When he heard Harry yelling James’ name, Teddy paused the game and stood up, stretching.

“I thought you said they weren't getting back until late?” Teddy said, glancing down at James, who was currently sprawled on the floor reading a Quidditch magazine. 

James tossed the magazine to one side and sat up. “It is late, you twat. It's like, almost eleven!”

“What!? How the fuck did that happen?” Teddy squawked.

“Because you're a massive fucking nerd for this game, that's how.” James laughed.

“Shit. I have to go.” Teddy jumped up and chucked the controller on the bed. “Gran’s going to be so worried! See ya, Jamie. Thanks. This was fun!” He yelled, dashing out of the door.

“Night, Teddy!” 

Teddy clattered down the stairs, meeting a very startled Draco on his way down.

“Hi Draco, Bye Draco. Gotta go! Gran's gonna kill me. Say hi to Harry!”

When Teddy arrived breathless and in a tangled heap on his sitting room floor, it struck him that he'd forgotten his files. Suddenly though, the prospect of going back and seeing James wasn't quite so awful. He'd managed to spend most of the afternoon and the whole evening there and it had barely been awkward at all. It felt like he'd got his friend back, and for the first time since this weird and inappropriate crush had reared its ugly head, Teddy actually looked forward to just hanging out with James again. 

 

+++

 

Now that he wasn’t trying to avoid James, Teddy ended up at James’ every other day. He initially came up with flimsy excuses: asking for teaching advice from Harry, helping Al with his Charms homework, or helping Lily with her latest experiments, but by the end of the second week of this, he didn't bother— everyone just expected him to show up. He would often arrive before lunch, and spend time with one of the ‘early-risers’ (usually Harry or Lily), but once James had stumbled downstairs, sleep-rumpled and pyjama-clad, and had his first coffee of the day, everyone else tended to disappear, so Teddy and James were free to spend their days playing video games, watching TV, or just hanging out in town. 

There were still times when a stray touch or look sent the butterflies in Teddy’s stomach into a bit of a flutter, but it was manageable, and he was able to enjoy spending time with James similarly to how they used to. His crush hadn’t exactly lessened, but following their mammoth gaming session, he had grown more comfortable with it, and he was confident that he could hang out with James without trying to jump him. There were incidents where James would look at him in a particular way, or maybe a touch would linger (Teddy thought he was probably imagining that though), when the limits of his self-control were sorely tested, but since accepting the crush, spending time with James became more enjoyable than torturous. He was still fairly certain things were going to go tits up eventually, but he had given up stressing about it and decided to make the most of the temporary equilibrium.

 

+++

 

“Morning, Teddy-bear!” Lily called out, darting past the front room as he floo'd into the Potter-Malfoy home one morning. It was the last Saturday of July and after a string of gloomy, grey days, the weather actually promised to be good for a change. Teddy had vague hopes of enticing James out to the local open-air pool, or at least to the park. It didn’t feel like a day to be trapped indoors with a PlayStation.

“Teddy, hi! I was was just about to send an owl,” Harry said as he entered the kitchen. The room was a hive of activity with everybody either eating, making sandwiches, or packing lunch boxes, and dashing in and out of the room with various things in hand. The only person missing was James.

“Do you and James have plans today?” Harry asked as he stuffed a couple of towels into a bag.

“Um, no?”

“Great! Bill and Fleur have decided to host a BBQ as a sort of late anniversary party slash family get-together since Charlie has randomly decided to visit. Do you think you’ll be able to make it?”

“Don’t forget about your birthday too, Dad! And Mum might be there!” Lily added excitedly “I can’t wait to hear all about the things she and Blaise have been up to.”

“She might not be there, Lil, she said she’d try. Don’t get your hopes up. Depends if they can sweet talk an international portkey out of someone.”

“If anyone can score a portkey at such short notice, it’s Blaise,” Draco said to murmured agreement from everyone.

“What do you say then, Teddy? Do you think you and James can be there?”

“Er, I guess so? I can’t speak for James though,” Teddy replied, confused as to why Harry assumed he had any control over what James got up to.

“It’s gonna be so cool! Uncle Ron said he’s going to try and organise a proper Quidditch match since there’ll be so many of us!”

“Bagsy James on my team!” Scorpius called out from across the room.

“No fair! Daaaad! Tell him that’s not fair!” Lily pouted.

“Can we save this argument until we actually get there? I need you all to gather your brooms, swimming stuff, and anything else you think you might need. Come on, chop chop! Teddy, can you go and rouse James? I’ve shouted up several times already but he sleeps like the dead. I expect you can borrow a broom and some trunks from him too.”

Before Teddy could object, Harry had turned to referee the three-way argument that was rapidly escalating between the three youngest members of the household so, slightly dazed from all the noise and bustle, Teddy backed away into the relative quiet of the hallway.

He slowly ascended the stairs to the second floor, and paused outside James’ door, listening for sounds of movement, although at only five past ten, it was highly unlikely that James was up yet. The door was open a crack, but it took Teddy a few minutes to work up to knocking. Maybe he could lie to Harry and say that James didn’t want to come, which would have the added bonus of meaning that he wouldn’t have to share James with anyone...He sighed and mentally kicked himself. What sort of awful friend would he be to deny James the chance to see his Mum, and hang out with his family, just because he was too chicken to wake him up. 

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Teddy knocked softly and pushed the door open, then swiftly forgot how to breathe. James was sprawled face-down on his bed in only his boxers, the duvet crumpled uselessly at the end and covering only one foot. Teddy couldn’t help the way his gaze travelled the length of James’ body, taking in the smooth line of his back, broad shoulders dusted with freckles, the dark wiry hair on his muscular thighs. His boxers were pulled tightly across his arse and rucked up so they left almost nothing to the imagination. Teddy’s hands twitched into fists as he focused every ounce of self-restraint on not following the path of his eyes with his hands. He was very aware of how horrifically creepy he was being, but he couldn’t move. It was only the thought of James waking up of his own accord and finding Teddy looming over him in the dark that eventually spurred him into action. 

“James?” He said softly, taking few hesitant steps into the room. “Jamie? Your Dad wanted me to wake you up. Jamie?”

When his gentle words, unsurprisingly, had no effect, Teddy considered his next move carefully. He could hex James, or cast an _aguamenti_ at his face, neither of which would be a particularly pleasant way to wake up, and would probably piss James off, or he could try a more gentle approach, the way his Gran used to wake him up before school...

Decision made, he drew back the curtains with a swish of his wand, then crept up to James’ bedside and knelt down, reaching one hand out and placing it firmly on James’ bare shoulder. He swallowed thickly as the warmth of James’ skin, which was every bit as soft as he’d imagined, shot down his arm and caused heat to bloom on his face. 

“Jamie?” He tried again, louder this time, and accompanied by a gentle shake of his shoulder. “Time to wake up Jamie.”

When James started to stir, Teddy leant back to give him space, but kept his hand on his shoulder, giving another gentle shake. 

As James stretched languidly and blinked his eyes open, Teddy finally pulled his hand away. He rolled onto his back and beamed sleepily up at Teddy.

“Teddy?” He looked so young and innocent without the ever-present confident smirk or playful grin and Teddy’s heart clenched painfully at the reminder of their age difference.

“Hi, Jamie.”

“What’s going on?” He asked, confusion painted across his face as his brain evidently caught onto the strangeness of Teddy standing in his room. Teddy tried to keep his eyes focused on James’ face, but they flicked down of their own accord to James’ groin, and he flushed more deeply as he caught sight of the unmistakable tent in James’ boxers. 

“Heh, sorry. Morning, you know?” James chuckled sheepishly, a flush painting his face that almost that almost rivalled Teddy’s as he grabbed for the duvet and covered himself up.

“Sorry! I swear I didn’t see anything!” Teddy cried, horrified at having been caught looking. He spun around, his back now to James, both to grant James some privacy and to hide his face. 

“So...why are you here? Not that I’m complaining, it’s just...unexpected.”

“Oh, right, well, everyone’s heading over to Shell cottage. Your Uncle Charlie is visiting, and your Mum might be there, and your Dad asked me to wake you up— he seemed to think we had plans or something? I don’t know why he’d think that, I mean, it’s not like we ever make plans, but I suppose we’ve been hanging out quite a bit...So, anyway. Here I am. Waking you up. As requested.” Teddy cringed. He hadn’t meant to ramble, but James hadn’t stepped in to stop him.

The bed creaked, but Teddy refused to turn around. Knowing his luck, he’d choose the moment James pulled his pants down and then be forced to _incendio_ himself on the spot; unable to ever live down the embarrassment.

“Tell Dad I’ll be down in five,” James said, his voice much closer than Teddy had expected. 

“Okay! I’ll just...yeah. See you in five.” 

Teddy rushed out of the room without a backward glance and slammed the door behind him. He stumbled down the stairs to the first-floor landing, his heart in his throat and paused to compose himself before heading down to the kitchen to face the rest of the family. Lily’s door was wide open beside him, clothes and books all over the floor, and when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror on her dresser, he swore inwardly; his hair was bright crimson, much like his cheeks, but the roots were dark, almost black, and he didn’t want to think about what that meant. Merlin, but he was a mess. He thought he’d managed to get the whole ‘James being stupidly attractive’ situation under control, but one glimpse of his morning...wood… and he was sent tumbling back to being an awkward, fumbling mess. Surviving the day would no doubt prove to be a challenge.

 

+++

 

Teddy hadn’t been back to Shell cottage since he and Victoire had broken up. Both Bill and Fleur (and several other Weasleys) had assured him on more than one occasion that he was welcome, but it had felt wrong somehow to intrude on their home when he’d caused so much upset to their daughter…and there was also the more important fact that he hadn’t much fancied running into Vic post-breakup. Enough years had passed since their break-up that the pain, for him at least, was little more than a distant memory. It was still strange being back though; it had barely changed at all which was both reassuring and disconcerting. Victoire had smiled politely at him, and they’d exchanged pleasantries, but that was the extent of their interaction. Thankfully there were plenty of people around, so things hadn’t been able to get too weird.

The promised Quidditch match kicked off not long after they’d all eaten far too much food. Teddy appeared to be the only one who cared about that, even though it would quickly become everybody else’s problem if they got splattered when he puked while on his broom. After much back and forth, it was decided to split the teams into young versus old, and then to further complicate things, everyone was banned from playing positions they were most comfortable with. Ron had said it would make things more exciting and stop James and Ginny from showing everyone else up, but as far as Teddy could tell after over an hour of playing, it had just made the match interminably long.

It was a long, hard slog; the early afternoon sun beat down on his back making him sweaty and uncomfortable, and made it ten times harder to grip onto the broom. For some reason, Teddy found himself playing seeker; at the time, it had seemed like a good idea as it meant he wouldn’t have to balance on a broom with a beater’s bat or catch, hold, and throw a quaffle, but it turned out that it was much harder than it looked, sitting on a broom for what felt like hours. If it hadn’t been for James, zipping about the goal posts, somehow managing to save goal after goal despite rarely playing that position, Teddy would probably have lost all interest in the match long before it finally ended. The only consolation was that Ron, who was the opposition seeker, looked equally uncomfortable. It seemed that after a time, no amount of cushioning charms could soften the unforgiving surface of a broom.

Eventually, after a match of epically long proportions (at least as far as Teddy’s arse was concerned), Teddy landed on the ground and stumbled off his broom. His face was dripping with sweat, stinging his eyes, so he lifted the hem of his shirt to swipe some of the moisture away and then winced as the rough fabric rubbed across his sunburned cheeks. The unfamiliar weight of the snitch in his hand made him feel slightly giddy. He’d not been paying enough attention to the score to know if his catch had ended the match with a win for his team, but in that moment he didn’t care. He shielded his eyes from the sun and laughed when he saw James leap onto Harry’s back as they landed with infinitely more grace than Teddy had, whooping loudly. They both turned to Teddy and he held up the snitch triumphantly, grinning at the sheer joy on James’ face; his catch must have won the game for James to look so elated. He’d never really been into playing Quidditch at school, but he could see why people got obsessed with it if this was what it felt like to win.

He yelped as he was suddenly swamped by his team members, but he didn’t mind when sweaty limbs were wrapped around him from all directions. None of them could be more surprised than he was that he’d actually caught the snitch, finally ending the match after close to three hours. He grinned again, unable to help himself, and felt the snitch fluttering in his sweaty palm. Eventually, the celebrants peeled themselves off of him, heading towards the beach in dribs and drabs, and before he knew it, he found himself standing alone in the field with James. His eyes were alight with joy, and his cheeks and nose were slightly pink, although only time would tell whether that was through sun exposure or exertion. 

“You did it!” He grinned, still sounding slightly breathless.

“Yeah,” Teddy agreed, unclasping his hand to hold the snitch between forefinger and thumb, and holding it up between them to inspect it more closely. “I can’t believe it,” he said, grinning back at James.

“I can. You’re awesome at everything you do.” 

Teddy blushed at the earnestness of James’ words. “Shut up, you idiot. I would never have caught it if your Dad hadn’t cast that charm to slow it down.”

“Haha. Oh gods, you saw that?”

“He was hardly subtle about it,” Teddy said, in mock seriousness.

“Still, you beat Uncle Ron, and he used to play Quidditch for Gryffindor!”

“Yeah, but he’s got old man reflexes, and did you see how much he drank at lunch? The poor old man was half-cut!”

They both laughed at the memory of Ron trying to convince Hermione that he was sober enough to fly.

“Come on, let’s go for a swim. I feel rancid.” James said once they’d stopped laughing long enough to catch their breath. He stripped off his shirt and tossed it at Teddy’s face before laughing and running towards the track that lead down to the beach.

“Oi, you twat! I’ll get you back for that!” Teddy shouted, wasting no time in giving chase. His legs were still sore and wobbly from being unused to spending so much time on the broom, but he barely noticed the ache as he took off after James. It felt just like old times; carefree and easy. 

 

+++

 

The water, as expected, was bloody freezing, but after the initial shock wore off it felt delicious against Teddy’s sun-abused skin. He joined in with several games of water-volleyball, and splashed about with the mass of Weasley cousins and aunties and uncles until his fingers were shrivelled and pruney. He was even roped into a few swimming races despite not being a particularly strong swimmer, but that was because he was incapable of saying no to James.

As the evening drew in, people started to drift out of the sea to congregate around a large bonfire that someone had built while Teddy’s attention had been distracted by a wet, shirtless James. Most of the ‘proper’ adults had gone inside to drink tea, eat biscuits, and do other mundane grown-up things, leaving the bonfire to the younger generation. Teddy was torn for a moment; he was the oldest one there, and by quite a bit compared to most of them, and he didn’t want to feel like a babysitter, but he definitely didn’t feel ready to hang up his youth and align himself with the older generation. However, when James sat cross-legged on the sand and patted the ground beside him while grinning up at Teddy, there was, of course, never any question over where he was going to be spending the rest of the evening. 

Someone (Teddy’s best guess was Fred or Roxi) had managed to scavenge a crate of beer from somewhere, so the atmosphere around the fire quickly became quite merry. Teddy was relieved that older siblings were doing a good enough job of policing their underage siblings so he didn’t have to practice his stern teacher’s voice, because it meant he could relax a bit. He still felt giddy from his earlier victory, and the couple of beers he’d had was only heightening that, so he would be a pretty rubbish authority figure for the time being. 

The air had a distinct chill to it by the time the sun had dipped below the horizon, but the bonfire provided enough heat that most people still just had t-shirts on. James didn’t though. As usual, he seemed impervious to cold, although with the way he’d pressed himself against Teddy’s side, perhaps he was content to leach all his warmth from other sources. Teddy held himself rigidly, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees as he stared into the flames that danced before him and tried to ignore the way James felt, warm and solid, beside him.

“Hey guys, everyone behaving, I hope?” Ron called as he ambled towards the circle of light around the fire.

At the sound of Ron’s voice, Teddy pulled away from James, putting what he hoped was a respectable distance between them. He glanced at James in time to see a flash of disappointment cross his face.

“Come to join the cool kids, Uncle Ron?” Asked Fred.

“Ha, I wish. No, I’m here with strict instructions to retrieve Lily and Hugo, and remind the rest of you that if there is _any_ underage drinking—” he paused at the collective gasp and murmur of half-hearted protests, “—come on guys, I was young once too, I know what you lot get up to as _I_ did it first, and if you’re going to steal a crate of beer, at least don’t take the good stuff! Anyway, as I was saying, punishments for any underage drinking will be both severe and creative. I’m looking at you, Al, Scorp, Rose, Louis, Roxi, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” several disgruntled voices mumbled back.

“I was also instructed to retrieve the remaining beers and remove temptation...but I’m not heartless, so I’ll trust you older lot to keep you younger lot in line, okay?” He laughed at the ripple of relief that passed through the group.

“Alright, I think that’s it.” Teddy choked on his beer as a large hand clapped him on the back, jolting him forwards. “Ted, I’m volunteering you as designated responsible adult and you have my full permission to bat-bogey anyone who gives you trouble. Come on you two,“ he said, herding a reluctant Lily and Hugo away from the warm glow of the fire. “Oh, I almost forgot; Curfew is eleven, for anyone under eighteen!” He called back over his shoulder. “Don’t make me have to come back and fetch you in!”

As conversation around the fire picked back up, Teddy tried not to grimace at Ron’s reminder of his ‘seniority’. He hoped no one really expected him to be in charge; he was going to have enough of that when the school year started up in a little over a month. He shivered as the now-familiar feeling of dread washed over him at the thought of his approaching start date.

“Hey, you okay?” James asked quietly, nudging Teddy with his shoulder and somehow managing to reduce the distance between them again. Teddy took a last swig from his beer and tossed the bottle toward the growing pile of empties.

“Yeah, fine. Just tired I guess. It’s been a long day.”

“We can go inside if you want? I’m sure Vic or Molly can take over as ‘designated responsible adult’,” he said, lowering his voice in some approximation of Ron’s.

Teddy’s heart clenched at the ease at which James said ‘we’ as if there was no doubt he would be going wherever Teddy went. This boy was driving him crazy and he had no idea. “I’ll be fine— the night is young, and I feel it’s my responsibility to drink some more of these beers to protect the younger kids,” he joked weakly.

James laughed and summoned a couple more bottles from the crate, handing one to Teddy.

“To being responsible,” he said, clinking his bottle against Teddy’s.

“To being responsible,” Teddy repeated softly, wondering if James would be sitting so snuggly against him if he knew quite how close he was to throwing ‘responsibility’ out of the window and giving in to his desires.

 

+++

 

It wasn’t long before a game of Truth or Dare started up. Teddy had initially been faintly alarmed at the game choice, thinking back to how he used to play it with friends back at school, but it quickly became apparent that this was a relatively tame version. After all, they were all cousins so it would be very, very wrong if things started down that route. 

Despite this, Teddy had decided to step back and take more of an observer’s role; he certainly wasn’t going to be running naked anywhere, or answering any probing questions about his love life. He lay back, and rested his head on his arms as he stared up at the stars, thoughts wandering while he kept half an ear on the game. It was hard to follow a lot of what was going on since he didn’t know most of the people they were talking about, and hearing about schoolyard crushes only made him feel old.

“Truth or dare, James!” His ears pricked up as James’ turn came round again. Last time James had picked ‘dare’ and had been made to serenade his Gran with a Celestina Warbeck song, but Teddy had his fingers crossed for skinny-dipping or something equally naked this time.

“Ooookay, well, since I’ve done a couple of dares already, as much as I don’t want to deny you all the chance to look at my gorgeous arse, I’m going to have to go with….Truth! Do your worst, Al.”

“No fair! I wanted to get you to charm Draco’s favourite cloak yellow! Come on, James!”

“Not bloody likely. I like my nadgers where they are, thanks. Draco does _not_ take kindly to wardrobe-meddling.”

“Exactly! That’s the whole point,” Albus huffed. “Okay, so, since you’ve denied me the opportunity to get you in trouble, this is a two-part truth question: Is it really true that Estelle broke up with you because she found out you cheated? And part two, who did you cheat on her with?” 

“Oh my God, Al, you can’t ask shit like that!” Lucy cried out.

“Yes I can! I’m the one who has to put up with half the school hassling me with questions about the ‘amazing’ James Potter and his ever-changing love life!”

“It’s fine, I can answer. I guess I should take this opportunity to set the record straight and fix my reputation,” James sighed. “The truth is...yes she broke up with me, but it’s not because she found out I cheated on her— which I would _never_ do to anyone, by the way, and you should know that, _Alburto_ —No, she broke up with me because…” James paused, wincing, and Teddy waited with bated breath for the answer, wondering how much more there was to the break-up story he’d already heard “…I may have said someone else’s name at a, uh, crucial moment...and she was understandably a bit pissed off about it.”

He chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck as several scandalised gasps came from the gathered cousins.

“So why did she go all mental at you and call you a cheater? Oh my god, did you say her best friend’s name?” Scorpius asked excitedly. “As I understand it, girls don’t like it when you do that.” 

“What do you know about what girls do and don’t like, Scorp?” Albus retorted.

“I read! I know things!” He said, shoving Albus playfully.

“Look, I dunno why she told everyone I was cheater. I told her it wasn’t a big deal but,” James shrugged, “she seemed to think it was and so dumped me. I mean, whatever, I guess I would have finished with her soon enough anyway. She was a bit mental.”

“Harsh, James. She did well to get out.” Dominique said, to the agreement of several others.

“Hey! Come on, you saw what she was like when she thought Jemma was flirting with me.” 

“Jemma _was_ flirting with you, and you loved it, you tart.”

“So, whose name did you say?” Teddy butted in, wanting to get the conversation back on track and also eager to prevent the minor argument between James and Dominique from escalating.

James blushed and prodded at the sand with a finger. “It’s not important. Just some guy. He doesn’t like me back so, whatever. Come on, it’s been like fifty questions— isn’t it someone else’s turn yet?” 

Teddy's stomach plummeted and he suddenly felt quite sick. On the one hand, he was elated at the confirmation that James was into guys, but on the other hand, hearing that he fancied some other guy enough that he had said his name while fooling around with his semi-serious girlfriend made him feel like someone had run him through the middle with Godric’s sword.

“Teddy, you still sitting this game out?” James asked, pulling Teddy from his thoughts.

“Yeah, actually, I think I’m going to go for a walk. I’m not feeling so good.” Without waiting for a response, Teddy pushed up from the sand, striding away from the fire and into the darkness that clung to the shore. He needed to get away from everyone. He was annoyed with himself for getting upset, but somehow the thought of James getting together with this nameless, faceless guy hurt more than if it had been a girl. At least when he thought James was only into girls, he could tell himself he didn’t stand a chance, that James’ flirty behaviour didn’t mean anything. But now he had hope. He also felt irrationally angry at James for not telling him about his interest in men; he knew Teddy was bi, so why hadn’t he said anything? He’d thought they were close, so why hadn’t he confided in him?

“Teddy, wait!”

He groaned inwardly as he heard James calling after him.

“Hey,” James said, as he drew alongside Teddy. “I feel like a bit of a broken record asking you this, but are you okay?”

“Yeah, I told you. I just feel a bit unwell. Thought I’d get some air.”

“Bull. Shit.”

“What?”

“I know you Teddy, and you’ve been acting weird recently. I’m not just talking about tonight, I mean this whole summer. One minute, everything’s cool and then the next, it’s like you’re avoiding me. What’s going on? Have I done something to piss you off?”

“No! Merlin, no. I... It’s nothing you’ve done, please believe me. You’re one of my best friends. I just...I don’t want to lose you,” he finished quietly.

“Lose me? Why would you lose me? I’m not going anywhere.”

“You might. If..if you knew... that… Look, it doesn’t matter. You’re about to go off and be a professional Quidditch player. And I’m about to become a stuffy Hogwarts professor. We’re headed in two completely different directions. But I’m happy for you. You’ve got the world at your feet and you’re going to have the best time. Don’t worry about me.”

“You make it sound like you think I’m going to forget about you…”

“I just mean that you’ll be busy having fun, playing Quidditch, maybe hooking up with that guy you like…”

“Ha, I told you I don’t think that guy likes me back. I thought he did, but now I’m not so sure. He’s a bit hot and cold. And he still sees me as some annoying little kid. He probably wants someone older, more mature.” James pouted and dug his toes into the sand. How was he not freezing out here in only his swimming shorts?

“Any man would be lucky to have you, Jamie. If he doesn’t like you back, he’s a fucking idiot,” Teddy said, not really sure why he was encouraging James to go after this idiot, other than knowing that he would do anything he could to stop him looking so dejected.

James looked up at him. “Yeah?” He said softly, drawing closer to Teddy.

“Yeah,” Teddy replied, mesmerized by how James’ eyes reflected the moonlight, and when had they gotten so close?

At this distance he could see the goosebumps covering James’ skin; could see the shivers as they passed through his body. He hesitantly raised his hands and ran them down James’ arms, thinking perhaps he could warm him up. James’ eyes fluttered closed and he exhaled shakily, so Teddy repeated the motion; he didn’t want James to be cold. He could feel James’ breath fanning across his neck— they were so close now, there was barely anything between them. He slid his hands from James’ arms and hugged him more securely against his chest; he just wanted to warm him up. That was all. He shuddered as James’ hands slipped beneath his shirt and slid slowly up his back. He tilted his head down, intending to ask James if he was warm enough yet, but James tilted his head up at the same time, and he was close, so close, and his hazel eyes seemed to glow softly in the moonlight, then before he knew what was happening, Teddy was kissing him. And James was kissing him back. It was soft and slow; Teddy nipped at James’ lower lip, suddenly desperate to taste him now the dam had cracked, and James offered no resistance, opening his lips and inviting Teddy to deepen the kiss, so Teddy pushed forwards and…

…he shoved roughly at James’ chest, his eyes wide and chest heaving. James looked stunned as he absently wiped his wet lips on the back of his hand, his pupils blown wide.

Teddy stumbled back, putting more distance between them and running his hands through his hair. “I...I’m so sorry. Fuck. Sorry. I have to…shit.” He couldn’t finish his sentence. All he could think about was getting as far away as possible. How could he have thrown himself at James like that? What sort of creepy, old, pervert was he? Harry was going to kill him. And Draco. And then each of the Weasleys would take their turn. What had he been thinking? He apparated to the cottage and marched through the house to the fireplace, ignoring the shocked silence that descended on the room.

“Teddy? Is everything okay?” Harry asked cautiously

“Sick. Going home.” He snapped, snatching a handful of floo powder from the dish on the mantelpiece, not wanting to be there when James turned up and told them all what he’d done. 

When he arrived home, he raced up the stairs and grabbed his trunk down from above the wardrobe. He stared at it for a few moments, considering where he could go that no one would follow him. With any luck, he’d be able to pack a few things together and floo to Hogsmeade before anyone followed him here from Shell Cottage. James was probably already telling everyone what a sex pest he was, so it was only a matter of time before Harry or one of the others came to yell at him. After chucking a few things in, he paused and shook his head. No. He wasn’t going to run away. He may not be a Gryffindor, but he wasn’t a coward. He emptied his trunk and levitated back to its usual position. If someone wanted to find him, he’d be here, in his room at his Gran’s house. Hiding would only make things worse. Resignedly, he lay down on his bed and tried to quiet his thoughts enough to get some sleep.

 

+++

 

The expected Howlers and angry mobs never arrived, so Teddy could only assume that James hadn’t said anything. Either that or everyone was biding their time. He spent the next few days either hiding in his room pouring over his teacher training materials, or wandering aimlessly between his favourite shops in town, trying to do anything he could to keep his mind off of James. After three days of silence, Harry had shown up, causing Teddy to have a minor heart attack. It was quickly apparent that he’d not come to murder Teddy though, rather he’d come to check if Teddy was okay since he’d left rather abruptly and then not been seen since. To Teddy’s mingled disappointment and relief, he’d not mentioned anything about James, other than to say that he’d been out a lot. Teddy didn’t want to dwell on what that meant, but really, he should be happy that James was out, probably having fun with his friends and getting laid. If James got together with someone, then maybe Teddy’s all-encompassing crush would fuck off and die. 

After almost two weeks, Teddy had still not heard anything from James, or even heard anything _about_ him other than Harry’s offhand comment, and he’d resigned himself to having royally fucked up whatever had been between them. Part of him was glad, because it made it much easier to avoid James when he was clearly pretending Teddy didn’t exist, but a larger, more emotionally-driven part just wanted to see him again and clear the air. He missed James terribly and it hadn’t even been two weeks since the… _incident_. Then one evening, when he was laying on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, and wondering whether he could take a sleeping draft strong enough to knock him out until the start of term, he heard a tapping at his bedroom window. He immediately recognised the familiar shape of Goggles, Harry’s owl, and almost fell off the bed in his haste to open the window. Had James finally decided to write? He snatched the letter from the owl a little roughly, earning himself a nip and an affronted glare.

“All I’ve got is some chocolate digestives, Goggles. If you want anything else you’ll have to go down to the kitchen,” he said absently, turning the letter over in his hands. It didn’t look like James’ usual scrawl, but that didn’t mean anything—maybe his handwriting had improved recently? The owl hooted impatiently and nipped his hand again before grabbing the entire packet of biscuits in her large talons and launching herself out of the window.

“I meant you could have one! Bloody winged rat,” he yelled out of the window. He sat down on his bed and reached for the emergency packet of biscuits he had hidden in his bedside drawer. The letter sat on his lap, threatening him with its potential. Would he even want to know what was written? Maybe James was writing to tell him how he was a terrible human and should keep away from him… Or maybe he was writing to beg for Teddy to come back to him? Would that be better or worse than rejection?

He growled, frustrated at his own reluctance to open the letter and find out one way or another. It would be very unlike James to write a letter packed with feelings. He‘d always been a man of actions rather than words. If he was truly pissed off at Teddy, he probably would have stormed into Teddy’s room and yelled at him or hexed him so the letter was unlikely to contain anything too bad…but there was always it chance it was cursed… 

Feeling a bit silly, he cast a couple of detection charms to check for malicious curses _just in case_ , then with trembling hands, Teddy tore open the envelope, unfolded the parchment and...and laughed. He laughed hysterically both at his stupidity for assuming it had been James writing to him, and at his disappointment that it hadn’t been James.

_Hi Teddy!_  
It feels like we’ve not seen you FOREVER! Dad said you’ve not been well, so I hope you’re feeling better now.  
Anyway, it’s family film night tomorrow night (Dad wants us to hang out together more or something), and I asked if you could come since you’re practically family, and he said yes! So what do you say? It’s my turn to choose the film so you know it’s going to be AMAZING! Come by around 7!  
Lily xxx 

_P.s. If you say no, I’ll cry._

Well, he could hardly decline now. He reflected briefly on how firmly Lily had him wrapped around her little finger before jotting down a quick reply on a scrap of paper and calling for Digby, his owl, out of the window.

 

+++

 

“Teddy!” Lily squealed as he stumbled out of the fireplace. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“Hi, Lils. Where is everyone?” He asked, after realising that the sitting room was empty aside from the youngest Potter.

“Dad and Draco are in the kitchen arguing about snacks, Al and Scorp are doing whatever it is they do when they’re together, and James is probably sulking somewhere since that’s all he does these days. I’m so glad you could make it! You’re going to love the film I chose. You like superheroes, right? What am I saying, of course you do! Do you know what’s up with James? He told me my new top looks stupid. You don’t think it looks stupid do you?”

“Er…”Teddy blinked in confusion as Lily took a brief pause before continuing her verbal assault. He’d not really interacted with another human beyond the bare minimum in the past nearly two weeks so it was slightly overwhelming to be bombarded with so many questions.

“Okay Lil, give the man space to breathe,” Harry said, interrupting Lily’s stream of questions. “Hi Teddy, glad you could make it.” He engulfed Teddy in a warm hug, which Teddy eagerly returned. It still surprised him that he was taller than Harry, but Harry was much broader across his shoulders meaning Teddy still felt like a small boy when they hugged. 

“Thanks for inviting me round. I hope I’m not intruding,” he said, reluctantly pulling back from the embrace.

“Don’t be ridiculous Teddy. You’re as welcome here as any of my kids, you know that. Want to help me with the snacks? I have to check on Draco and make sure he’s not adding caramel and sugar and Merlin only knows what else to the popcorn. Honestly, it’s a wonder the man has any teeth left.”

Teddy chuckled and followed him down to the kitchen. He could already feel some of the tension drop from his shoulders since neither Lily nor Harry had treated him any differently from normal, but he was still anxious about how James would react upon seeing him.

 

+++

 

When Teddy and Harry returned to the living room laden down with a wide selection of snacks and drinks, there were no free seats. Lily was sprawled over the armchair, Albus, Scorpius, and Draco had taken over the sofa, and James had taken the loveseat in the corner. They arranged the snacks on the coffee table, then Harry kicked Draco in the knee to get him to make space. Teddy stood awkwardly to one side, wondering where he should sit. He could feel James’ eyes boring into him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at him; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to him, but if James was going to yell at him, he wanted to wait until they were somewhere more private, rather than in a confined space with his surrogate family.

“Nice of you to join us, James. I thought you said you were going out.” Harry commented, as he fidgeted about to get comfortable beside his husband, ignoring Draco’s huffs of protest.

“Yeah, well, I thought you said we had to be here for family time or whatever,” he mumbled.

“He was going out, but he changed his mind when I told him Teddy was coming,” Lily said, smirking in a way that she must have picked up from Draco.

Teddy snapped his head round to look at James for the first time since arriving. He could feel the colour rising in his cheeks and willed his hair to stay brown. James actually wanted to see him?

“What? No! Lil! Shut up! I never—” James protested.

“That’s enough. I don’t care why you’re here James, I’m just happy you are. And Lily, don’t tease your brother,” Harry scolded. “Now, James, budge up and let Teddy sit down, That loveseat’s made for two so there is more than enough room, if you don’t mind getting a bit cosy.”

Teddy felt his flush deepen as James dutifully shuffled over to make room. He glanced back at Harry in time to see him exchange a knowing look with Draco, but decided it would be better for his sanity if he ignored it. What the fuck was going on? If he didn’t know any better, he’d think they were trying to force him and James together.

“Hey,” James mumbled, as Teddy perched on the edge of the chair.

“Hey.” Teddy smiled weakly. This was so awkward. He wondered how odd it would look if he suddenly made a break for the fireplace and floo’d home. He just wanted things to go back to normal with James; he had no idea where things stood between them anymore. Was James mad at him? Or disgusted? Was he going to pretend like the kiss had never happened? He knew they shouldn’t avoid the, ah, issue, but he definitely wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable conversation.

“You look good,” James said quietly, breaking the awkward silence.

“What?” He looked down in disbelief at the drab outfit he’d thrown on without any thought. “Really? Thanks, I guess? You do too. Look good, I mean.”

James grinned and relaxed a bit more comfortably into the chair. “Thanks. Thought I’d better put on a shirt for the occasion, you know, just to mix things up.”

“Clothes suit you,” Teddy said, following James’ example and settling back a bit less rigidly in the chair. “You should wear them more often.”

“I thought you liked watching me walk around topless,” James smirked, knocking his knee into Teddy’s and then leaving it pressed against him. Teddy spluttered, his face flushing a deep red.

“Shhhhhhhh! It’s starting!” Lily hissed. Teddy whispered an apology and turned his attention to the screen, doing his best to ignore the heat of James’ leg against his own.

 

+++

 

Lily's film choice turned out to be one of Teddy’s favourites (a Marvel film from a few years previously— Lily had called it ‘a classic’ which had instantly made Teddy feel about a hundred years old) but Teddy hadn't been able to focus on any of the on-screen action because of the intensely distracting presence of the man beside him. He constantly felt James’ eyes on him, but every time he glanced to the side, he was staring at the screen, nothing but Thor’s hammer or Hulk’s green mass reflected in his hazel eyes. Teddy desperately wanted to talk to him, to clear the air and find out where things stood between them, but it wasn't exactly a conversation he wanted to have with James’ father and step-father just a couple of metres away, so he had rather quickly abandoned the idea.

Teddy decided not to hang about for long after the film ended. Things with James were awkward, and he didn’t want to overstay his welcome with everyone else, all of whom were looking half asleep. He said his goodbyes and headed upstairs to use the bathroom before going home because there was nothing worse than travelling by floo with a full bladder.

He stepped out of the bathroom absently wiping his hands on his shirt. It had been a good evening, and he was glad that he and James had been able to spend time together without things getting too weird, but he wished he could just talk to him and find out where things stood; even if James told him to fuck off.

A movement from the shadows of James’ room off to the left startled Teddy out of his thoughts. 

“Teddy?” James’ voice sounded uncertain and small as he stepped into the hallway.

“Shit, James. You scared the life out of me,” he gasped, clutching a hand to his chest.

“Sorry, I just…I wanted to ask you something without everyone else listening in. Can we talk?”

Teddy’s stomach flipped. They were going to have the ‘ _conversation_ ’ now? “Uh, sure?”

James retreated into his room and lit the lamp on his bedside table and Teddy stood awkwardly in the hallway for a few moments to compose himself before following him inside. He found James sat on his bed, eyes focused on the snitch that fluttered in his hands. He didn’t look up when Teddy sat beside him, leaving a respectable foot of space between them.

“So—”

“Look—”

“Sorry, you go,” James said after they both tried talking at the same time.

Teddy swallowed thickly, hoping he could get through this without fucking things up permanently by declaring his undying love, or something equally as ridiculous. “Okay. Well, I guess I need—no, I _want_ to apologise for kissing you—” he held his hand up to shush James as he tried to interrupt. He was going to get this out if it killed him. “—I’m a lot older than you, and you’d been drinking, and I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you. I understand completely if you don’t want to be around me anymore, but I promise that I can control myself so you don’t have to worry about me doing anything inappropriate again if you think you want to stay friends. I’d really like it if we can still be friends though.”

“Friends,” James repeated blandly.

“Yes, if you think you can forgive me. I understand though if—”

“Whatever, friends is fine I guess,” James said, waving a hand dismissively.

Teddy’s heart sunk. He’d been expecting a bit more emotion, be it positive or negative; anything other than the neutral glare James was giving the snitch that was still trying to escape his grasp.

When James offered nothing else, Teddy sensed things between them weren’t as resolved as he’d hoped. “So, we’re good? Friends?” He asked tentatively. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

James huffed and flopped back onto the bed, releasing the snitch and throwing his arms over his head so they dangled off the other side of the bed. “It’s...nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Teddy frowned. “Are you sure? You can tell me anything. That’s what friends are for, right?” He urged, earning a huff from James.

“Yeah, _friends_ , so you keep saying. Look, it’s stupid, and you’re probably going to say no, so whatever, but I thought maybe you might want to come clubbing tomorrow night. Me and some friends were going to check out that new club off Diagon, and I just thought... well, it doesn’t matter. Why would you want to hang out with a bunch of kids since you’re so much older than us?”

Teddy stared down at James’ prone form, his eyes wide with surprise. James wasn’t looking at him though— his gaze was firmly fixed on the snitch that now fluttered around the ceiling. James wanted to go clubbing? With him? So why did he look so miserable about it? Whatever the reason, Teddy had a strong feeling that he was missing an important plot point.

“Sure, I’ll come. Why not?” He replied, hoping that he’d managed to keep some of the eagerness out of his voice.

James’ eyes snapped up to meet his for what might have been the first time that evening. “You will? I mean, cool. It’ll probably be shit, you know, but it’ll be a laugh too.”

“Yeah, I’ve not been clubbing for ages, so I’ll try not to act too much like an old man around your friends.”

“For fuck’s sake, you’re not old Teddy, you’re only twenty-four,” James said, shaking his head exasperatedly and whacking Teddy on the arm. “And my friends are going to love you, you idiot. When are you going to realise how awesome I...er...everyone thinks you are?”

“Shut up,” Teddy grumbled, feeling the heat of a blush colour his cheeks for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.

“Hey, did you know that your hair turns sort of red-ish every time you blush?” James said with a grin.

“No it doesn’t,” Teddy snapped, raising his hands defensively to his head.

“Yeah, it does. It looks cute…ah…good, I mean.” 

Teddy scowled, but the blush wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. James thought he looked cute?

“Ha! Look, it’s changing! It’s getting darker. Are you doing that on purpose?”

Teddy leapt up from the bed. He wanted to get away from James before he noticed anything else, like his hazel eyes or the semi in his trousers. “I have to go! See you tomorrow!”

“Aww, Tedward, don’t go! I wish my hair did that. It’s so cool!”

“Bye, Jamie.”

“Okay, okay, night Teddy. Come round here by eight tomorrow, or meet us in the Banshee for pre-club drinks sometime after that,” James called after him.

He fled downstairs to the sitting room to floo home. Thankfully, if anyone noticed his flaming cheeks and deep red hair, they didn’t comment.

 

+++

 

Teddy spent half of the next day stressing about what to wear. It was ridiculous, and he knew he was acting like a nervy teen before a first date, but he couldn’t get his mind to calm the fuck down. He wanted to look good on the off chance that there might be even the tiniest spark of attraction, but what did people even wear to clubs? And what sort of club was it? He’d never felt so clueless and out of his depth.

He checked the clock— ten to eight —and glared at his reflection in the mirror again. Mousey-brown hair, bluey-grey eyes, uninspired green and brown plaid shirt, buttoned up to his neck. Who was he kidding; James would never be interested in a man like him. He could have anyone he wanted with his looks and charisma, and he was pro-Quidditch player, pretty much. Why would he settle for a boring old soon-to-be Charms professor six years his senior? He raked his hands roughly through his hair and groaned, before turning to throw himself down on his bed, it wasn’t too late to back out, he supposed. Maybe he could pretend he was sick or something. As he turned though, he caught sight of the picture of his mum and dad he kept on the dresser.

“What should I do, mum?” He asked softly, clutching the frame before him. “I know I should keep away, but I really like him, like, a lot. Not that he’s even into me like that…but what if he is? What if there’s a chance he likes me back?” His mum grinned at the camera, then turned to gaze lovingly at his dad, blushing beautifully as he ducked down to kiss the tip of her nose. He realised, with a sudden jolt of sadness that he was pretty much the same age that she’d been when she’d died. She hadn’t cared that his dad was so much older, and their age difference had been much more than his and James’. Why was he so hung up on that aspect of their relationship? It was only six years, and James was an adult now, about to step out into the world on his own. He really should give James more credit, maybe speak to him about how he feels, and see what happens. Being rejected couldn’t be any worse than this awful limbo he was in right now. His mum had been bright, happy, courageous, and unafraid to go after the man she loved, and his dad had been a smart, kind, brilliant man who in the end hadn’t let their differences come between them. It would be disrespectful to both of their memories if he abandoned hope because he was too scared to try.

He stood to face himself in the mirror again and a grin spread across his face as he watched his hair turn from dull brown to a bright bubblegum pink. His eyes changed gradually too, green leaching out from the pupils to replace the pale blue. It gave him confidence, proudly wearing an aspect of each parent. Satisfied with that part of his transformation he flung open his wardrobe and after a moment’s deliberation, grabbed the jeans that, according to his ex, made people want to worship his arse, then swapped his sensible button-down for one of his favourite t-shirts— a faded Dillinger Four band shirt that was just tight enough to hug his figure without being uncomfortable. As a last thought, he picked up the plaid button-down and shucked it on over the top, leaving it unbuttoned this time, before clattering down the stair to floo over to James’. Maybe James wouldn’t look twice at him, but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

 

+++

 

Harry and Draco were in the kitchen when Teddy wandered in looking for James. Harry was at the sink gesticulating animatedly with a spatula, while Draco leant against the worktop, arms folded across his chest, watching his husband with a soft smile on his face. It was so rare to see them together without one or more of their children there, Teddy almost didn’t want to interrupt, but Draco soon spotted him lurking in the doorway.

“Hi Teddy, looking good,” Draco said, quirking an eyebrow appreciatively. 

Harry turned around and grinned. “Wow, you’ll be beating them back with a stick,” he chuckled. “James mentioned you might be going out with him tonight. Wasn’t sure I believed it until now though.”

Teddy spluttered. “We’re not going out! He just asked me to tag along with him and his friends. It’s not a big deal.”

“Okay, calm down! I just meant that I was surprised because I didn’t think clubbing was your thing.” Harry and Draco smirked at each other and once again, Teddy was struck by the feeling that everyone knew something he didn’t.

“Oh, well, it’s not really but, I don’t know, it’s good to try new things, right?” Teddy replied.

“Of course! You’ll get no judgment from me. I wish I was still young enough to hit the clubs. What do you say Draco? D’you think the kids will mind us tagging along for a little boogie?” Harry waggled his eyebrows and shimmied at Draco, who seemed to be trying really hard to keep a straight face.

“It’s been a few years, but I reckon I’ve still got it,” he replied, grabbing Harry by the hips and spinning them both round.

“Urgh! Dad! Draco! Don’t you even think about coming out tonight, okay?” James exclaimed, sauntering into the kitchen as Draco dipped Harry with a flourish. He muttered a brief ‘hello’ at Teddy before glaring threateningly at Harry. 

“Don’t worry James, we wouldn’t dare cramp your style, not this time anyway,” Harry laughed, extracting himself from Draco’s hold.

“Yes, we actually thought we’d make the most of having an empty house tonight,” Draco added, pulling Harry back towards him and nuzzling into his neck.

“Oh gods, no. No. No. No. Stop talking now. Come on, Teddy. Let’s leave these nasty old people to do their nasty old people things in peace.”

Teddy hastily waved bye as James dragged him out of the room by his wrist. Harry and Draco’s laughter followed them up the stairs. “Behave yourselves, boys! Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!” He heard Harry yell as James yanked open the door.

 

+++

 

The pub was heaving by the time they eventually arrived, and Teddy’s anxiety about the evening skyrocketed. He was no stranger to pubs, but he and his friends tended to go to quieter ones; the ones frequented by old men with yellowing beards and overweight dogs. Not only was it noisy, hot, and crowded, but no one here looked older than twenty. However, he did his best to push aside his nerves and followed after James before he got swallowed up by the crowds. 

Despite his initial trepidation, Teddy soon relaxed enough to start enjoying himself. He didn’t miss the curious looks a few of James’ friends gave him when he sat down beside James at their table, but they were friendly enough towards him, especially once James told them all about him being a metamorphmagus. He reluctantly became the centre of attention for a good hour as everyone tested the limits of his abilities (’ _Can you turn your hair rainbow coloured?_ ’, ‘ _Can you grow horns?_ ’, ‘ _Can you turn your skin purple?_ ’ and so on). It felt good, being a part of this group, and he quickly forgot his fears that they would all view him as some dull old man. 

The club was only a short twenty-minute walk from the pub, so they decided to make the most of the warm(ish), dry summer evening and walk instead of apparate. Teddy trailed behind the main group, still not feeling comfortable enough with James’ friends to force his company upon them, but he wasn’t left alone for long as James appeared by his side.

“Hey, having fun?” He asked, nudging Teddy’s side.

“Yeah. It’s not bad. Your friends seem nice.”

“I told you they’d like you, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“You look good, by the way. I didn’t get to say anything before ‘cause Dad was being gross, but you do.” Teddy smiled and ducked his head to hide the blush he felt blooming on his cheeks. If James said anything he would blame it on the alcohol. “You could probably have anyone you wanted, you know, if you feel like pulling tonight,” James added after a minute or two, and if the blush hadn’t been noticeable before, there was no mistaking it now as his face felt like it was glowing bright enough to light up the street.

“What? Shut up. No. Really?” He spluttered, much to James’ amusement. “So…Are you on the pull tonight?” 

James shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps. Never say never,” he grinned. “Do you think you’ll try getting lucky?”

“Ha, I don’t know, probably not. I really doubt anyone would be interested in me.”

“Are you crazy? Jesus, Teddy. You’re a solid ten, seriously. And those jeans. Gods. Anyone, Teddy. You could literally walk up to anyone and get them to go home with you. Tonight, tomorrow, any fucking time.”

Any response Teddy might have had stuck in his throat. He stopped abruptly in the street and stared, open-mouthed, at James. 

James continued walking for a short distance before turning around once he noticed Teddy was no longer beside him. “What?” He asked, innocently.

Teddy shook his head. “You’re drunk. That must be it,” he said more to himself than James. How could he say these things? Did he ever think before speaking?

“I’m not drunk, but even if I was, it’d still be true.” James smiled, but it looked almost sad, or wistful.

Teddy studied his face, looking for any sign of the words being a joke. He must have been joking; friends didn’t speak to friends like that, did they? 

“Are you two coming or what?” One of their group shouted from the queue, snapping the tension. Teddy blinked as he realised how close he’d been to throwing caution to the wind and apparating James straight to his bedroom. 

“Alright, calm down, we’re coming,” James called back. “We’d better go. They’ll never let me live it down if we don’t even make it into the club.” He turned away and took off towards the rest of the group who were now queuing outside the club. Teddy’s heart was pounding so hard he thought it might break straight through his ribs, and he was sure someone would comment about he and James staring each other down in the middle of the street, but no one said anything and Teddy started to wonder whether he’d imagined the whole thing.

 

+++

 

Teddy had thought the pub was busy, but the club was apparently just a solid mass of sweaty bodies grinding and writhing against each other vaguely in time to the pounding beat. James dragged him onto the dance floor almost as soon as they entered, either not hearing or completely ignoring Teddy’s groans of protest. It was hard to stay grumpy with James dancing in front of him though, and he soon dropped some of his inhibitions and gave in to the bass that thrummed through his body. James was in his element, the strobing lights playing across his features and managing to make him look almost otherworldly. Teddy was initially careful to keep some distance between them, but as they danced, the rhythmic motion of the people on the dance floor forced them closer, and after the second, third, fourth song, their bodies were in contact more often than they weren’t; the brush of a knee, or a hand, or an arm. Teddy kept telling himself it was accidental, of course, and completely unavoidable what with the surging of the crowd around them, but the longer they danced, the longer the ‘accidental’ touches lingered, until by song six or seven Teddy started to suspect a degree of intention behind James’ movements. He was only vaguely aware of the other dancers, his attention completely captivated by the man before him; the movement of his body was so sinuous, so graceful, as he danced, and he never seemed to miss a beat. By comparison, Teddy felt like a Hippogriff with four left feet, and wasn’t surprised by the few side-eyed glances he caught from those around them on the few occasions he was actually able to tear his eyes from James. No doubt they couldn’t believe someone as hot as James was dancing so closely with someone as gawky as him.

The song changed again, to yet another Teddy hadn’t heard before, but he laughed as James thrust his fist into the air, a look of pure delight on his face. The beat was slower than the previous songs, almost lazy, and the melancholic female vocal immediately took Teddy back to misspent nights. James drew closer, leaning in towards Teddy’s right, then placed his hand on the opposite side of Teddy’s face, pulling him in closer. For the briefest of seconds, Teddy’s heart stopped, then he shouted: “I love this song!” His lips so close, Teddy felt them brush against his ear. James pulled back, but remained tantalizingly close, and rather than remove his hand completely, he dropped his arm to Teddy’s shoulder, the other arm coming up to Teddy’s other shoulder, and just like that he was bracketed by James, their bodies barely a hair’s breadth apart, and now more than their knees and legs were brushing. Hesitantly, Teddy rested his hands on James’ waist, and tried to mirror his movements as his hips swayed to the lazy beat. He lost himself to the feel of James against him, the heat of his body, the way his fingers curled in Teddy’s hair at his nape, the brush of lips and breath on his neck as James mouthed the lyrics. Teddy felt drunk, but it was nothing to do with the alcohol he’d had. 

But then a faster beat kicked in, and the spell was broken. James stepped back from him, his face flushed. He looked like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t, and Teddy wanted to tell him it was fine, wanted to pull him close again but his body wouldn’t respond, and James backed away further. _Bathroom!_ , he mouthed, and then disappeared through the crowds leaving Teddy alone, confused, and painfully aroused in a sea of strangers.

Unsure of what to do or where to go, Teddy made his way to the bar they had agreed to meet at should they get separated. Either James would turn up, or he wouldn’t, so he ordered himself a drink and settled in to wait.

He was midway through his second drink and there was no sign of James. He leant against one end of the bar, scanning the crowd for any sign of James, and trying really hard to ignore the little voice in his head that told him James was getting lucky with a random guy in the bathroom, when someone pressed up against him, completely disregarding his personal space. He frowned and tried to edge away without seeming too rude, but then their breath was on his cheek as they leaned closer.

“Hey, I saw you on the dance floor earlier. Where’s your boyfriend gone?” The man’s voice rumbled in his ear and Teddy tried not to shudder. He turned his head carefully, not particularly wanting to get his face any closer to the stranger, but needing to get a look. Pale eyes met his, and an unnaturally perfect moustache quirked up on one side as the man smirked. 

“What? Oh, he’s not my...we’re not...we’re just friends.” Teddy replied hurriedly and managed to manoeuvre his body so there was a slightly more comfortable distance between them.

“Really? So you’re not here with anyone in particular?” The man purred into his ear, seamlessly forcing his way back into Teddy’s personal space.

“I..I’m here with my…friends.” Who was this man and why wasn’t he going away? Where the fuck was James?

“You have the most beautiful eyes, by the way. Really stunning. I’ve always been a sucker for hazel eyes. And your hair is so dark—” before Teddy could react, the man reached up and dragged slender, perfectly manicured fingers through the shorter hair on the side of his head “—and so soft too! I love it. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Er, what?” Teddy was sure his eyes had been green last time he’d checked, and what had happened to the pink? He looked round to check his reflection in the mirrored back of the bar and blanched. Fuck. Why was his magic tormenting him like this? His control hadn’t been this bad since he was a little kid and his hair would change every time he liked someone. He prayed James hadn’t noticed the less than subtle mimicry, but knew there was very little chance of that having happened. No wonder he'd dashed off to the bathroom looking like a startled deer. 

“Would you like a drink? I’m Sebastian, by the way.” Sebastian smiled and held his hand out, and Teddy was too shocked by the attention to do anything other than shake it. Is this what he’d been missing, all those years of not going clubbing? Was this a normal interaction, or had he somehow attracted the local pervert?

“Um, Teddy. Nice to, er, meet you.” He smiled faintly, trying to look past Sebastian to see if there was any sign of James. He’d even settle for one of his friends right now.

“Aren’t you just the most adorable little thing.” Sebastian pressed closer and before Teddy knew what was happening, he felt the warm, firm, pressure of Sebastian’s hand on his lower back. “So, are you going to tell me what you’re drinking or should I take a guess? You look like someone who’d go for something smooth and dark…” 

“Er, look, you seem like a nice guy but—”

“Who’s this?” Teddy startled as James appeared to his left, scowling at the arm which linked Sebastian to Teddy.

“I’m Sebastian, and we’re busy. Who are you?”

“Irrelevant. He’s with me so I’ll thank you to take your hand off him before I hex you into next week.” James growled, reaching for his wand.

Teddy moved forward and tried to put himself between Sebastian and James. “Jamie, it’s fine, I can—” 

“He told me he wasn’t here with anyone, so you clearly didn’t make much of an impression,” Sebastian said, straightening up and stepping towards James. He had at least three inches on him, but James stood his ground and didn’t even flinch when Sebastian loomed threateningly over him. Teddy tried to keep calm, but his heart was racing; the last thing he wanted was to deliver a beaten and bloody James to his father.

“Well, actually—” Teddy started, thinking he should try and diffuse things.

“Teddy? You want me to leave you with this camel toe?” James asked, gesturing aggressively at Sebastian, and Teddy felt his hackles rise at James’ assumption that he was incapable of looking after himself.

“It’s okay, Jamie, I’m dealing with it,” he said shortly, then smiled apologetically at Sebastian. “I’m sorry, but we have to go,” he said, shoving James ahead of him as he stalked away from the bar. They ended up in a quiet-ish corner, to one side of the dance floor.

“What was that about?” He snapped once they’d stopped. He hadn’t meant to get angry, but really, who did James think he was, disappearing for fuck-knows how long and then getting all pissy and territorial because someone spoke to him.

“What? I leave you alone for two seconds and some mouth-breather is draping himself all over you! I did you a favour!”

“You ‘ _did me a favour_ ’? So that’s what you call leaving me in the middle of the fucking dance floor, and then fucking disappearing for half an hour. Great. Bloody fantastic.” Teddy was happy to see James had the grace to look ashamed, but it wasn’t enough to diffuse his anger. “So what if some guy is interested in me? What’s it to you?” He yelled, prodding James’ chest to emphasise his point.

“What, you liked that idiot?” James yelled back, his eyebrows raised in disbelief, which only served to rile Teddy up further.

“That’s beside the point! I was handling it, you didn’t need to stomp over acting like…like…a caveman! I’m not some delicate flower that needs protecting. I’m older than you!”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Teddy. I wasn’t protecting you, he just looked like a prick. And the thought of you with him makes me want to puke.”

“What!? Just because you find the idea of me repulsive, doesn’t mean everyone else does.” Teddy snarled. 

James stepped back and gripped his hair in frustration. “Fuck! That’s not what I meant!”

“Then what the fuck did you mean?”

A tense silence fell between them, the noise of the club fading into the background as they both glared at each other, chests heaving.

James was the first to look away. “I...shit. I didn’t want to tell you like this, but…I…I like you. Okay?” He said eventually, so quietly that Teddy wouldn’t have heard him if they weren’t standing so close. “I know you think I’m just some stupid, immature kid, but I can’t stop thinking about you, and…and the thought of you with someone, especially a prick like that poncey fuck-knuckle, kills me.”

Teddy was speechless, not sure if he believed his ears. James _liked_ him? Like, really actually _liked_ him? Was this really happening?

In the face of Teddy’s continued silence, James’ confidence started to crumble. “You know what, just forget I said anything. You just want to be friends, I get that, but I thought you should know how I feel. I think I’m just gonna go home. Hope I didn’t fuck things up for you with that guy. For the record, I think you could do way better though.”

James turned to leave, and Teddy was finally spurred into action. He reached out and grabbed James by the arm, preventing him from disappearing into the crowd.

“Jamie, wait! I...fuck it.” He hooked his free hand behind James’ head and pulled him closer, tilting his head slightly and pressing their lips together before he could think it through properly. James was momentarily stunned motionless, and for a split second Teddy panicked that he’d misunderstood the situation— after all, it was loud and dark, and he’d been drinking —but then James responded, his hands coming up to grip Teddy’s hips, pulling their bodies together as he parted his lips and deepened the kiss.

Teddy walked backwards a few steps, dragging James with him, until his back was pressed up against the wall of the club, The bass thrumming through his body intensified as James pushed him firmly against the wall. There was now no space between them as things rapidly escalated and James pushed against him, grinding their groins together. He gasped as he felt the hardness of James’ erection nudging up against his own, sending waves of pleasure through his body. After an indeterminate amount of time, James’ lips left his and he trailed desperate kisses along Teddy’s jaw, nipping at the sensitive skin below his ear. Teddy tilted his head up obligingly, allowing James space to continue his exploration. His eyes were closed, shutting out the club, and there was nothing but James; the feel of his mouth, the scrape of his fingernails, the heady scent of leather and spice, the taste of his sweat, the sound of his gasps, the urgency of his movements. It was almost too much. Teddy never wanted this to end, but he could feel every cell in his body rushing towards the inevitable and knew it wouldn’t be much longer…

…but then Teddy opened his eyes and he suddenly remembered where they were as the club came back into focus.

“Wait, wait, we should—” He started, reluctantly pushing James away to create a bit of space between them, but gripping the fabric of his shirt so he couldn’t go too far.

James looked like he’d just had an enchantment lifted; his pupils were blown wide, his lips shiny with saliva. “Shit! sorry. I didn’t—fuck. That was intense.”

“It’s okay, I just...I think perhaps we should go somewhere more...private…?” Teddy said, not bothering to hide his eagerness.

James grinned and pressed a chaste kiss to Teddy’s lips. “Yeah, sure, I know just the place. Come on.” He stepped back from Teddy and took his hand, lacing their fingers together, then lead him out of the club without looking back. 

The air outside had cooled considerably while they’d been inside, and the sudden quiet made Teddy’s ears ring, but he barely had time to register his surroundings before he felt the uncomfortable tug in his gut as James apparated them to his ‘somewhere private’.

The world blinked back into view, and Teddy frowned, instantly recognising the front door before him. “You took us back to your house? Aren’t your Dads in?”

“Yeah, but would you rather go back to your Gran’s?”

“Fair point...“

“Don’t worry about them, it’s like, two a.m. They’ll have been asleep for hours, and I imagine a future Charms professor would be pretty handy with a silencing charm…?”

Teddy chuckled. “I guess we’ll find out.” He leaned in to kiss James, just because he could, and it rapidly turned more heated as James groaned and Teddy couldn’t help but push him up against the door.

“Inside. Now. I refuse to jizz my pants on my own doorstep,” James said breathlessly.

“You’re no fun,” Teddy smirked, but pulled back enough to give James space to turn and get the door open.

 

+++

 

Teddy gazed down at James, who was spread out on the bed, palming himself through his trousers, bottom lip caught between his teeth as he stared back. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. How was this beautiful boy in this state for him?

“You can come closer, you know. In fact, I demand it,” James said impatiently.

Teddy grinned. “Do you now. I guess I had better obey.”

James smirked, then sat up and pulled his shirt off over his head. Teddy followed his example, though with much less grace, and tossed his shirt towards the floor. He knelt on the edge of the bed before crawling closer on all fours and straddling James’ hips. Tentatively, still expecting at any moment to be rudely awoken from this fantasy, he lightly ran his hands up James’ taut body. There wasn’t an inch of fat on him, it was all muscle, and yet the skin felt so soft beneath his fingers. James writhed beneath him, his hips jerking up to seek pressure as Teddy scraped a nail over one perfect, deep pink nipple. He ground down, gasping as their erections met, and then it was as if the dam had been broken; caution and hesitancy, and slow exploration cast to the side. James reached up and pulled Teddy down on top of him and their mouths crashed together in a searing mix of tongue and teeth, hot and urgent and messy. James dragged his nails down Teddy’s back as they frotted desperately against each other. 

Eager for more contact, Teddy slid a hand between them and fumbled for a moment with James’ belt buckle.

“Hold on a minute,” James muttered, “let me just…”

Teddy pushed himself up and shuffled back a bit to give James some space. He was breathing hard, his back stung, his lips felt raw from stubble burn, and he was certain he’d never been this hard before, but why had James stopped? Had he pushed too far? Maybe James just wanted a bit of kissing and dry-humping...shit. Had he fucked this up already?

“Come on, kit off. I’ve been thinking about your dick non-stop for at least a year, time to show me the goods,” James urged, grinning lasciviously.

Teddy focused back on the scene before him and almost choked. While he’d been wasting time panicking about possibly having taken advantage of James, James had stripped off and now lay before him, legs spread wide as he lazily stroked his erection.

“Shit. Jamie. You...I...fuck. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” With trembling hands, he undid his trousers and yanked them down his legs, almost tumbling off the bed in his haste. He inwardly cursed his lack of forethought when the restrictive material caught around his ankles. James chuckled at his little gymnastic performance and Teddy felt momentarily self-conscious as he briefly compared their differing physiques— James with his pro-sportsman’s body, and him with his study-softened, sedentary-lifestyle body —and wondered what the fuck James was doing with him, but James’ adoring gaze quickly pushed that doubt aside. His eyes were fixed on Teddy’s erection, tongue wetting reddened lips as he continued stroking himself. 

Teddy crawled back towards him, kneeling between his legs and resting his hands on James’ inner thighs. He absently rubbed circles into the warm, tanned skin with his thumbs as he considered his next move. He wanted to press James into the bed and feel the tightness of his body surround him as he thrust inside and made him forget his own name...but was James ready for that? Had he even _been_ with a man before?

“You need to fuck me. Now,” James huffed as if reading his mind.

“You...um...yeah? Me?” 

“No Teddy, the other fucking gorgeous guy I brought back from the club. Of course you.”

He sounded so confident, but Teddy didn’t want to take any chances. If this was going to happen, he wanted to be one hundred percent certain that James wanted it. “Sorry, I just...Have you...before? With a...not a girl?”

James rolled his eyes, but his expression was fond. “I’ve not been with a guy, no. But I’ve... _experimented_ plenty and I’ve watched a fuckload of porn. I know what I want, Teddy, and I want you to be my first.”

“Ooohh, sweet Merlin. Fuck.” Teddy moaned as he was hit with an endless stream of possibilities.

James suddenly looked a bit uncertain. “Shit, Teddy, sorry. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want. I just assumed...Gods, I’m such an idiot—”

“What? No! I want to. Fuck! I’ve never wanted anything more! I just...are you’re sure? You can back out anytime, okay?”

“I’m sure,” he smiled softly, relaxing again and reaching out to trail a finger the length of Teddy’s chest, until he reached Teddy’s erection. He swirled a thumb over the head, smearing the precum that had beaded there, and that was all the encouragement Teddy needed. He threw himself forward, once again crashing their lips together, only this time he could feel the entirety of James’ body beneath him, and he delighted in exploring all the newly exposed flesh with mouth and hands. 

He kissed and licked and nipped his way down James’ body, relishing the sounds he was drawing out from him. He wanted to take his time, become intimately acquainted with every square millimetre of James’ body, trace his freckles with his tongue, map his muscles with his fingertips, just in case he never got this opportunity again, but if James was anywhere near as turned on as he was, he knew it would be better to get things moving. Hopefully, there would be other times where they could take things slower…

“Unnnghhh, Teddy, if you’re not careful I’m gonna…” James uttered, his voice muffled by the arm thrown across his face.

“Lube?” Teddy asked. He knew several lubrication charms, but he always preferred the real thing, especially when he didn’t want to rush.

“Second drawer down.” 

Teddy reached over and grabbed the lube, deciding not to comment on the fact that James was actually much closer. He squeezed out a generous dollop from the tube and slicked up his fingers.

“Ready?”

James nodded, his eyes squeezed shut.

Teddy leant forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his inner thigh. He rubbed one slick finger over his puckered hole and then slid it inside, frowning minutely at the ease at which his finger slipped through the tight muscle. He had expected a little more resistance, considering that James had said he was inexperienced with this.

“I told you I’d experimented,” James said, raising himself up on his elbows and grinning smugly at Teddy. “Didn’t you see what else was in the drawer with the lube?” 

“Er, no!? We are definitely coming back to that, but right now…” He thrust his finger in a few times then slipped a second finger in and the smug smile was wiped from James’ face as he threw his head back and hissed. It was Teddy’s turn to feel smug now as he slowly worked James open, adding a third finger once he’d relaxed, until he was a quivering, sweaty mess beneath him.

“I’m ready. Please Teddy, fuck me. I need you inside,” James gasped.

Teddy sat back, stroking his dick back to full hardness as he gazed down at James spread open just for him.

“Protection charms okay on their own or do you have a—”

James reached behind him to rifle through his top drawer. “Here,” he said, flinging a box of condoms at Teddy’s head.

“Thanks,” he grinned. He fumbled with the packaging for only a moment before getting the condom on, then he rubbed another generous helping of lube along his length and lined himself up.

“Are you sure?” He asked one last time, giving James another opportunity to duck out.

“For you? Always. Now get on with it before I— Unnnngh.”

Teddy watched James’ face closely as he slowly and carefully pressed into him. He could pretend that he was doing it purely for James’ comfort, but honestly, he thought if he moved any faster he would come before he was fully seated. He wanted to make James’ first time good enough that he’d want to do it again (with him), and he didn’t think shooting his load within the first few seconds would create the sort of lasting impression he was after.

He groaned with relief when he eventually bottomed out, and paused, eyes closed and arms trembling as he allowed James’ body time to adjust. 

“Hey,” James said quietly. Teddy flicked his eyes open, and stifled a gasp at the sight of James looking so perfectly wrecked beneath him. 

“Hey,” he replied breathlessly.

“Okay?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

He huffed a small chuckle “Maybe, but I want this to be good for you too.”

“Merlin, Jamie. It’s...you… It’s everything. Of course it’s good. Can I move?”

“Yeah. Fucking...just, go for it.” He grinned, a flicker of his usual confident demeanour surfacing for a moment before Teddy pulled back and then thrust forward with a grunt. James’ eyelids fluttered closed and then the only thing he seemed capable of saying was Teddy’s name, over and over and over until he was finally silenced by his orgasm.

 

+++

 

Teddy slowly blinked awake, realising very quickly that he wasn’t in his own bed and that there was a warm body pressed up against his back. He smiled as the events of the previous night came flooding back, and carefully rolled onto his back to get a better look at his sleeping companion. James snorted softly as he was jostled despite Teddy’s best efforts, but then sleepily snuggled into Teddy’s side without waking. He looked so peaceful like this; would he have any regrets about what they’d done? That wasn’t something Teddy wanted to dwell on right now. He wanted to make the most of having the object of his affections, the boy he cared about more than he was willing to admit, pressed against him. He lazily traced the myriad of freckles that adorned James’ shoulders with his fingers, drawing swirling patterns and writing nonsense words, while James slept soundly, his face pressed into the crook of Teddy’s neck, one arm slung possessively over his abdomen. 

A small part of Teddy wanted to leave now, before James woke up, so they wouldn’t have to have the much-needed conversation about what it meant to their relationship now they’d fucked. If he left, his irrational mind supplied, he wouldn’t have to see the look of revulsion on James’ face when he woke up and realised who he was in bed with and what they’d done. He quickly squashed that line of thought though; yes they’d had a bit to drink, but neither of them was too drunk to know what was going on, and he remembered with perfect clarity just how demanding James had been about what he wanted from Teddy, so there shouldn’t be any regrets...but what if it was nothing but a one night stand? How could he be around James anymore if he just wanted to stay friends knowing now exactly what sounds he made with Teddy’s cock inside him? 

“Jamie! Teddy! Bacon and coffee in the kitchen when you finally decide to drag your arses out of bed!” Harry yelled up the stairs, causing Teddy’s thoughts to slam to an abrupt halt. Harry knew he was here? What time was it? He scrabbled about for his wand, before realising he didn’t need it and cast a wandless _tempus_. Ten thirty-eight. Balls. 

“That’s so hot,” James mumbled sleepily into his neck.

“What?”

James raised his arm slightly and wiggled his fingers. “Wandless. Hot. You.”

“Oh, well, I’ve been practising. I, um, wanted to look cool when I start teaching,” he said, laughing self-deprecatingly.

“Mmmm, you’ll have to give me a demo of your skills later,” James said, his voice still croaky from sleep. Teddy was about to get up and head down to breakfast before Harry could get too suspicious when James shifted to stretch his body and he felt something hard press against his hip.

“We, uh, we should get up. Your Dad was yelling up the stairs,” Teddy tried as James started rolling his groin in a slow rhythm against Teddy’s side and nuzzling into his neck.

“Yeah, he does that,” James mumbled between kisses.

“Uhh, he... he knows I’m here.”

“Mmhmm.” James hooked his leg over Teddy’s, grazing balls with his thigh as he continued grinding his erection against Teddy’s side. The kisses on his neck had become more forceful, more teeth, more sucking.

“D..d..don’t you c..care?” Teddy was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything beyond what James was doing with his hands and mouth. 

“Nope.” James said, lifting his mouth from Teddy’s neck long enough to pop the ‘p’. He placed his hand on Teddy’s cheek, turning his head so he could attack his mouth, and Teddy gave up all attempts at resistance; they could have a ‘talk’ afterwards. Who was he to deny James what he so clearly wanted?

Teddy rolled them over so he was settled between James' legs, then slid a hand between their bodies, encircling their erections, increasing the friction while they ground against each other. The sounds James was making shot straight to Teddy’s groin; he wasn’t going to last long at all. He pulled away, kissing along the line of James’ jaw, the stubble rubbing his already sore lips raw, before trailing kisses down James’ chest.

James whimpered as Teddy’s hand left his cock, but this quickly became a soft moan as Teddy clamped his mouth around a nipple and suckled, gently scraping his teeth over the pebbled nub as he pulled off to lavish attention on the other side. James raked his fingers through Teddy’s hair, alternately yanking back and pressing his face into his chest as a nonsensical stream of words fell from his lips.

Teddy continued his path downwards, enjoying taking his time to take James apart. For some reason he didn’t feel as much pressure to ‘perform’ as he had last night; James clearly liked what he had to offer since he had been so keen for more this morning. 

“Oh fuuuck,” James groaned as Teddy licked his shaft, and then sucked the head into his mouth. Teddy glanced up and almost came on the spot at the sight of James with his arm thrown across his face, his neck and chest, damp from sweat and covered in marks that Teddy had made. He hummed his appreciation and slid his mouth further down James’ length, using his hand to cover what he couldn’t fit in.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Teddy, Oh gods, Teddy, I’m gonna..” he tugged at Teddy’s hair to warn him to lift up, but Teddy ignored him, sucking down James’ cock with renewed vigour. James’ movements became jerky and uncoordinated before he suddenly stiffened, crying out loudly. Teddy swallowed down all of his release, not pulling off until James started twitching and chuckling breathlessly. He pressed a kiss to his softening erection, then crawled up the bed and flopped next to James, his own erection forgotten temporarily as he took in James’ dishevelled state.

James leant over and kissed him deeply. “Fuck, Teddy. Just, wow. Can I…um, is it okay if I…?” He gestured towards Teddy’s still very hard cock. 

“I’m not going to stop you,” he replied, relaxing back into the pillows with eyes closed and his arms behind his head. He had expected a quick handjob just to finish him off so they could clean up and get breakfast, so when he felt James’ tongue on his cock he jerked his hips off the bed in surprise and had to bite back a loud groan.

“Sorry! Is this okay? I’ve not done it before,” James said apologetically, smiling sheepishly.

“No, no, it’s great! Fantastic even. Just don’t bite down on it and there’s literally no way you can go wrong,” Teddy replied.

“Here goes nothing,” James grinned, ducking down and taking Teddy into his mouth with all the gusto he usually reserved for the Quidditch pitch. It wasn’t the best blow job Teddy’d had, but it was certainly the most enthusiastic, and his orgasm hit him after an embarrassingly short time, which pleased James no end. 

 

+++

 

They finally emerged from James’ room almost an hour after Harry had called up to them. Teddy wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and tried not to drag his feet too much as he followed James down to the kitchen. He’d wanted to apparate straight home, but James had convinced him that it would look less suspicious if he came down to breakfast since Harry apparently already knew he’d spent the night. He didn’t want to keep whatever it was between them a secret, but they still hadn’t even talked about where things stood between them, so when James had suggested telling his Dad that Teddy had slept on the floor, he readily agreed to the lie.

Harry and Draco were sat at the kitchen table reading the Sunday papers, a steaming pot of coffee between them when they entered the kitchen. The windows were wide open despite the rain, letting in the fragrant scent of wet grass and tarmac. 

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to grace us with their presence,” Harry exclaimed theatrically as they wandered into the kitchen. “Morning boys. Or should that be afternoon?”

“No, no. it’s still morning for…” Draco looked up at the clock “...another ten minutes. You were right the first time.”

“Morning Harry, Draco,” Teddy mumbled, barely raising his eyes from his feet.

“Hi Dads,” James said, striding confidently over to the coffee pot and pouring out two cups.

Teddy took the coffee eagerly, then reluctantly sat at the table as James helped himself to a bacon sandwich that had been kept warm and fresh under a warming charm. He chanced a glance at Harry and Draco and caught them having some sort of non-verbal argument that consisted entirely of eyebrow-raising and not-so-subtle head-nods.

He exchanged a confused look with James, who just shrugged and took another mouthful of his sandwich.

“Please tell me that you at least used protection,” Harry said eventually. “Charms and johnnies at best, but a basic protection charm at the very least.”

Teddy spluttered, the sip of coffee he’d been halfway through swallowing spraying over the table. By the sound of it, James was having a similar experience with his sandwich.

“What…?” He said weakly when he recovered his powers of speech.

“Oh, sorry. Are we still supposed to be pretending that there’s nothing going on between the pair of you?” Harry asked innocently looking at them both in turn.

“What…?” Teddy repeated.

“If you wanted to keep it a secret, you might have considered a silencing charm… Fairly basic bit of magic, especially for a Charms professor.” Draco said pointedly, not looking up from his paper.

“You didn’t cast the silencing charm?” James squeaked. All the colour draining from his face, which had the unwanted side-effect of making the marks on his neck even more obvious. Teddy mentally slapped himself. Why hadn’t they healed the marks? What was he, fifteen?

“Oh Merlin,” Teddy muttered. Everything they’d done last night and that morning flashed through his mind. Had Harry and Draco heard everything? He thought he might vomit. 

“Never mind, boys. Consider it a learning experience.” Harry said, sounding far more cheerful than the situation warranted.

“Yes, it’s not something you forget twice,” Draco added. “Merlin. Do you remember that time at the Burrow?”

“I thought we agreed never to speak of that again. How is this never speaking of it?”

“I only agreed never to speak about the actual event. I never agreed not remind to you, on occasion, that it happened,” Draco snapped.

“Dad. Draco. Please stop talking and obliviate this conversation from my mind. I’m begging you,” James interjected before Harry and Draco could wander any further down that path.

“I hardly think it’s you who needs obliviating, considering recent events,” Draco muttered.

“Let’s just agree that we’ve all heard things we rather wished we didn’t, okay?” Harry cut in diplomatically. “Now, back to my original question— Please tell me you used protection? I don’t want to have to repeat ‘the talk’.”

James huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad. We used protection.” Teddy tried very hard to pretend he didn’t exist, but with the way his cheeks were flaming, he was probably visible from space. 

“Good. So, any plans for the day? If you’re at a loose end, we were thinking of taking Lily, Al, and Scorpius bowling later since the weather has taken a turn for the worse or there’s that new arcade...”

Teddy was only half listening to Harry chat away. Aside from trying to process the mortification that his godfather and cousin, both of whom he’d know his whole life, had obviously heard him fucking James last night, he couldn’t quite believe that Harry had nothing more to say about it. Did he really not care, or was he lulling them into a false sense of security?

“Are you seriously okay with...um, with us...being…” Teddy blurted, gesturing frantically between himself and James, and then shrinking back into his chair as three pairs of eyes focused on him.

“Why wouldn’t we be okay with it? You’re both adults, and I’m assuming that there was consent..?”

“Yes! But… but what about... We’re...I’m so much older...and…”

“Teddy, you’re not that much older than James, and to be honest, given some of James’ previous partners, I’m over the moon the pair of you have finally come to your senses. You can only be a good influence on him.”

“Hey!” James pouted.

“It’s true, James. You’ve definitely made some questionable romantic choices in the past.” 

“Fine. Fair enough, I guess. So you’re cool with Teddy being my boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Teddy yelped. James wanted to be his boyfriend?

“Well, yeah…? Oh god, was this just a one night stand?” James paled for a second time, and Teddy scrabbled to reassure him despite his own internal panic.

“What? No! Not at all. It’s just we didn’t talk about it and…” he looked over at Harry and Draco who were both watching the conversation with poorly concealed interest “...and I didn’t want to assume...” he hissed.

“Okay, well, do you want to be my boyfriend?” James asked bluntly, looking at Teddy hopefully.

Teddy glanced back over at Harry and Draco, who had both abandoned all attempts to look like they weren’t listening intently, and were now even leaning forward in their seats to hear better.

“Are you asking me out?” He hissed, turning back to James.

“I think it’s a bit late for that...but, sure,” James shrugged.

“Okay…Yes. I like the sound of that.” Teddy blushed and smiled softly at James. His boyfriend. 

“Thank Merlin for that.” Harry cried, throwing his arms into the air. “Come on, Draco. Let’s leave them to it.” He pushed up from the table and herded Draco towards the door. 

“In addition a good silencing charm, no one should be without a pot of dittany or a decent healing charm, if you understand my meaning,” Draco said, tapping the side of his neck and arching an eyebrow at Teddy before stepping through the door.

Shit. Teddy groaned and leant forward, banging his head on the table. This had to have been the most excruciatingly embarrassing morning of his life.

“Hey, it’s not so bad. Just think, now you don’t have to make up some crappy excuse about working with my Dad when you come over.” James grinned and pressed a kiss to Teddy’s flushed cheek. 

Maybe he was right, Teddy thought, returning James’ grin, before reaching for a bacon sandwich, his appetite finally restored. They only had two weeks before Teddy had to go to Hogwarts and James had to join the Falcons for the start of the season though. After wasting the whole summer, they had a lot of lost time to make up for— making up excuses to visit wouldn’t be a problem because he had absolutely no intention of leaving James’ side in all that time.

===END===

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Find me on tumblr @ [coriesocks](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/coriesocks)


End file.
